ARCH
by Lady Starwing
Summary: He surrendered himself to protect his friends. When the High Seraphim uses him in an experiment, what could possibly happen? What exactly does it mean...to be an ARCH? Holy ... COMPLETE! NO WAY!
1. Cycle 1

_**Li:**__ This story's kinda weird, but this has been rattling around in my head for a while…_

_**Hector:**__ Like all the other stories that you've written for this site?_

_**Li: **__Oh, hi. –choughs-Since you're here, please muse. And before I forget, this has hints of __**SHONEN-AI**__, but none that gets too explicit, and it's one-sided. Okay, I've warned you. If you have mental scars because of it, you can't say I didn't warn you!!!-has coughing fit-_

_**Hector:**__ …-sighs- Li-chan0767 does not own Tales of Symphonia. –turns to Li- You. Go lie down and rest_.

_ARCH, Scene 1_

Yggdrasil smirked coldly as he read the book before him with a twisted sense of glee. It spoke of how a Cruxis crystal could be fused with a living being even more completely than the Chosen's transformation, creating a far more powerful angel, known as ARCH. The high Seraphim of Cruxis knew that he had the right equipment to create such an angel, but he didn't have a suitable host. Perhaps Pronyma…

"Lord Yggdrasil!!" Speak of the devil. Not bothering to look up from his reading, the High Seraphim simply sighed in irritation.

"What happened this time, Pronyma?" He asked, glancing up ever so briefly. The leaf haired half-elf shifted uncomfortably before speaking again.

"It seems that the Chosen's group has been captured." She said softly, eyeing the blond in respect. "Lord Kratos' son is with them; do you have any orders concerning him in particular?" Yggdrasil's eyes lit up.

Placing the book aside, he folded his hands before him as he contemplated what he could do. If he brought Lloyd into Cruxis, not only would he keep Kratos alive and loyal, but the Chosen's group would lose their leader and be forced to surrender Sylvarant's Chosen one. But not only that, a child of angelic lineage would have a much better chance of surviving the trials of being turned into an ARCH…

Grinning maliciously, he nodded. "Yes, bring the boy here to the castle; I have something I wish to discuss with him…Something that would benefit all of Cruxis…" Pronyma found his expression and tone very worrying, but if he said it would be good for Cruxis, she wouldn't complain.

"I shall go fetch him, if I have your permission." She stated, to which Yggdrasil nodded. As soon as the Desian grand Cardinal left, he chuckled and picked up the book again, muttering to himself, an evil grin on his face.

---

"The boy comes with me. Lord Yggdrasil wishes to speak with him." Pronyma gestured with her staff at the brunette, who looked rather shocked. The two angels that held him at spear point gave the Desian looks of shock before roughly shoving the boy over to her. Lloyd yelped when he felt a vice like grip on his shoulder, and he looked up in mild disgust at Pronyma.

Colette looked at Lloyd in shock; what did they want with him!? He wasn't the Chosen of Mana, a host planned for the goddess, but yet the leader of Cruxis wanted to see him? Confused, the blond shook her head and reached for her comrade and secret crush.

"Lloyd!!! Lloyd!!!" But even as she spoke, the brunette gave her an apologetic look as he vanished. Suddenly feeling cold, the Chosen stood mutely where she was, ignoring the angels trying to roughly shove her into the cell with the other three female group members. Lloyd was…gone…

---

Lloyd felt like someone had taken control over his body as he entered the castle at a steady pace behind Pronyma, who looked at him in disgust. "Why Lord Yggdrasil would wish to speak with such an inferior being as yourself…ah, but I forget that you are different from most inferior beings…" Lloyd looked at her in confusion.

"What the hell is so special about me?!" he demanded, scowling. "Why do you and the Renegades need me so much?!?" Pronyma smirked coldly, a dangerous thought dancing in her head.

"It is not my place to tell you." She replied cryptically, earning a frustrated noise from the teen. "That is something that you'll have to ask another one of the Four Seraphim, but there is only one who can give you that answer honestly." Lloyd, who must've decided that arguing was pointless, refrained from showing the woman a very rude hand gesture and scowled.

"Be that way…" he muttered darkly, shooting a harsh glare at Pronyma's back. The woman froze briefly as the intensity of the glare mirrored the enraged expression of a certain auburn…Shaking her head, she led Lloyd further into the castle.

Yggdrasil heard them coming and quickly placed the book to one side as Pronyma appeared, the brunette swordsman in tow. Lloyd stared in disgust at the blond man as he stood and floated over to him, a cold smile on his face.

"Lloyd, how nice to see you again." Yggdrasil said softly, shooing Pronyma a good distance away with a flap of his hand. "I had hoped that it would be when you returned my sister's vessel to me, but this is just as good; actually, it's better than that."

"And why is that?" Lloyd asked just as softly, arms crossing dangerously over his chest. Yggdrasil raised an eyebrow calmly, wondering how best to approach the situation. Lloyd could have quite a temper, and he was about the most stubborn person alive. Finally, the High Seraphim had an answer.

"I have something I wish to discuss with you…" He began, actually touching the ground as he landed to stand on eye level with Lloyd. "I have noticed how close my sister's vessel is to you, and vice versa. While this does distress me, she is useless as of right now. Sylvarant has enough mana to wait for the next chosen, seeing as how the mana links are severed…" He muttered the last bit in a bitter voice; now his control over the summon spirits was broken. "So I am willing to let her go, but only if you…" he poked Lloyd in the chest, earning a startled gasp from the teen. "…are willing to make an agreement."

"What type of agreement?" Lloyd asked cautiously, nervous. Yggdrasil smiled slightly and crossed his arms.

"I let your friends go, but you have to join Cruxis." The High Seraphim knew that it was a risk that Lloyd might take after his father and rebel, but if he could control him, he could very well create an ARCH powerful enough to defend Welgaia, possibly even himself.

Lloyd felt his head whirl; Colette wouldn't be pursued any more, but he would have to join up with the person he swore to bring down and oppose. But if it meant that Colette would be safe…it was such a painful choice, but in the end, Lloyd sighed and nodded.

"Fine." He whispered, looking at the ground, disgusted with himself. 'I'm a bloody hypocrite.' He thought bitterly, looking up at an obviously delighted Yggdrasil and a very startled Pronyma. The Grand Cardinal was about to object when Yggdrasil beckoned her over.

"Prepare testing room C-354, including the hibernation chamber." He ordered immediately, giving her a look that demanded no objections. Pronyma nodded and went to fill her orders, leaving the two alone in the room. Yggdrasil walked closer to Lloyd and looked the teen up and down, a rather disturbing look on his features.

"For right now, you'll need to wear spares…I will have a uniform made for you once the angel transformation is complete…And don't worry; you won't be wearing one of my spares." He chuckled when Lloyd's look of mild fear was replaced by one of relief. Pondering briefly that the teen would look rather attractive in a white body-suit, Yggdrasil pulled him along behind him as he headed into a walk-in closet.

---

A half-hour later, Lloyd found himself dressed in a dove-grey robe and cloak that covered his face and felt rather comfortable. When he'd asked about the color, Yggdrasil had given him a rather unnerving look before stating that since he wasn't a full angel of Cruxis yet, he couldn't wear white, and since he wasn't against the angel any longer, he couldn't wear black.

"Besides, you look rather attractive in it." He had added on later, which made Lloyd flush furiously and splutter before he saw the smirk on Yggdrasil's face, showing that he had been joking. He'd been relieved by that, and hearing those words in his memory gave him disturbing mental images that he REALLY didn't want to see. Pulling up the hood of the grey cloak, he stood just as Pronyma returned.

"Ah, Lord Yggdrasil. Testing room C-354 is now ready, and the hibernation chamber is operational." Yggdrasil placed his book aside, face alight. He had re-read the portion on creating an ARCH so often that he had the instructions memorized. Floating over to Lloyd, he lightly grasped the teen's forearm before gliding out of the room.

"Don't forget, the Chosen and her friends are free to go." The High Seraph called over his shoulder, to which Pronyma nodded.

"It seems that they have already escaped, and are busy finding a place to hide for the evening. They have also obtained a mana fragment, so the Chosen might very well be healed soon." The Desian explained, turning and drifting behind her master. Lloyd listened with only half his mind; the other half had noticed the strange floating walkway that they were on. He could see through it to the city beneath, and it unnerved him to see so many soulless angels flying around beneath him.

He was grateful that he no longer needed to worry about Colette becoming one of them.

"Ah, here we are." Yggdrasil announced a few minutes later, breaking Lloyd out of his reverie. The three stood before a portal into the basement onto which they went. Vanishing briefly, Lloyd found himself in what had to be the strangest of test rooms he'd ever seen. Eerie blue and violet lights illuminated the place, and a seed shaped chamber was connected to the ceiling by hollow tubes of condensed mana. There was also various lab equipment scattered about, and Lloyd had a brief thought about how Raine would've had a field day in the room when Yggdrasil pulled the hood of the cloak down.

"First off, Lloyd, I need to see you swords." Before the teen could protest, he had removed the steel weapons and was looking Lloyd calmly in the eye. "You won't need them later on, and I have asked that special ones fitting a member of Cruxis be made." Placing the blades aside, he walked over and pulled off the Key Crest, leaving the Angelus project attached bare to Lloyd's hand. "Now…" The Seraph lightly pushed Lloyd over to the hibernation chamber. "You shall need to remain in here for a while in order for the angel transformation to go without pain."

"Then why did you remove the Key Crest?" Lloyd asked, hesitating before the chamber. Yggdrasil sighed and shook his head.

"If I had left it on, it would've interfered with the transformation." He explained, half-lying. Gently pushing Lloyd into the chamber, he said adamantly "Turn around and relax. It won't be all that bad." Lloyd gave him a nervous look before leaning back and closing his eyes.

As soon as he did, the lid closed, and the mana tubes began to pulse with an ominous light. Pronyma stood by as Yggdrasil drifted over to a machine controls and punched a few buttons. A small thin tube connected directly to the Exsphere, and then latched its other end right above Lloyd's heart area.

It was the transfer of the Exsphere's strength enhancing abilities to the host's heart that made an ARCH so powerful, not to mention practically immortal. It was also the reason that not many were strong enough to withstand that sort of transfer. Lloyd's vitals seemed steady, giving Yggdrasil a good picture.

Watching calmly as the rest of the wires and tubes connected to the youth's form, Yggdrasil felt a sense of success rushing through him. When he had told Lloyd that the Key Crest would interfere with the transformation, he had meant the transformation into an ARCH.

Nothing was going to get in the way of this; not even Kratos.

_**Li:**__ -has several coughing fits within 5 minutes- Well-coughs-  
__**Hector:**__ I told you to go lay down!!! You can barely talk without hacking. –shoos Li to bed before turning around- Yeah, Li's kinda sicky, so I'll handle the musing on my own for a while. So…-shifty glance-_

_**Florina: **__Please review!!_

_**Li:**__ -coughHackcoughcoughHack-_

_**Florina:**__ She really doesn't sound good…_

_**Hector:**__ yeah, makes me wonder why she didn't STAY HOME!!!!_


	2. Cycle 2

_**Li:**__ He heh heh heh…I've got a lot of people on the edge of their seats for this fic…-rubs hands together- Mithos and Sage are rubbing off on me…So many people want to know what an ARCH is…-laughs manically-_

_**Hector:**__ MITHOS!!! –points at Li- What the #&!! did you do to her?!!?_

_**Mithos:**__ Nothing…he heh heh AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! –continues laughing-_

_**Li:**__ MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAHHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!! –keeps laughing with Mithos-_

_**Hector: **__…Well, she's not sick anymore…Li-chan0767 does not own Tales of Symphonia…_

_ARCH_

'I wonder if Lloyd's okay…' Colette thought to herself, looking around the small room inside Welgaia. She and the others managed to escape, thanks to a powerful attack that Regal had at his disposal. From there, they had escaped into Welgaia, retrieving a mana fragment-with a little 'indirect' help from Kratos-along with another Devil's Arm, and had hidden out for the night in the room where it was kept. They had agreed to rotate watch, but Colette had volunteered to remain awake all night; that way if they were discovered, she could say she was keeping them contained until one of the Seraphim came with orders for her.

"I think we should all get ready to go now." Raine stated calmly, standing up. She was currently on watch with Colette, and proceeded to wake the others around them. "If we set out now, we might be able to get some information on the Eternal Sword that the storyteller told us about." She continued, shaking her brother awake.

"And rescue Lloyd? Could we manage that?" Colette asked hopefully, her face lighting up briefly. Raine looked at her student sadly and sighed.

"I want to rescue him as well, Colette, but if he was taken to Yggdrasil's castle, I don't think we can." She said, looking the blond in the eye to show that she meant what she said. "I don't want to abandon him any more than you do, but do you honestly believe that Lloyd would want us to die while trying to save him?" Colette couldn't retort that statement; Lloyd wouldn't like that at all.

"I'm hungry..." Zelos whined as he woke up, and was promptly smacked for it by the Professor. The reverberating noise served as an alarm clock to the others who all awoke with quite moans. Genius yawned behind his hands as he looked at his friends.

"I can whip up some sandwiches real quick if anyone else is peckish." There were several nods of agreement, and in less than a heartbeat, Genius and Regal were making sandwiches for the rest of the group to make when Colette's head shot up in shock.

"Someone's coming!!" The other seven felt the blood leave their faces as they froze, not knowing what to do. The door to the room they were in slid open to reveal...

"Why does this fail to surprise me?" Yggdrasil muttered, staring in disgust at the monitor for Lloyd's vitals, which showed the teen's heart beating erratically within his chest. Looking back at the hibernation chamber, he saw that Lloyd still looked like he was sleeping peacefully. Turning back to the keypad, the High Seraphim hit a different amount of keys, and a second tube appeared from Lloyd's heart and went to his right hand, somehow managing to balance out the amount of mana surge in the boy's body.

"Much better. I should have done this to begin with..." Yggdrasil whispered to himself thinking back on the next part of the ARCH transformation. It involved the part of the mind that dealt with emotions, so it was difficult. Pondering, he ignored the sliding door until the person who opened it stepped in.

"What are you doing here?" Kratos asked, eyebrows raised as he surveyed the room. "I would have thought that you would've fled as soon as possible." Colette found herself stuttering as she saw the tall auburn enter the room, and the others were frozen stiff.

"And just what are you doing here?" Raine finally got out after a minute, but Kratos simply ignored her, recounting the amount of people in the room.

"...Where is Lloyd?" He asked suddenly, earning a sharp glare from Sheena.

"We should be asking you!!!" She yelled, eyes flashing from a soft hazel to a deep amber color. "Your boss said that he wanted to speak with him!!" Kratos gave her a shocked look. That was not what he had expected to hear.

"He did?" He asked, worried; if Yggdrasil had wished to speak with Lloyd, things were not going to turn out good. The eight looked at him in surprise; they had thought that Yggdrasil would've informed Kratos if he chose to speak with Lloyd. The auburn crossed his arms and gave the group a stern look, resisting the urge to chew on his lip, a habit he had picked up from Anna in their time together.

"...Do any of you have a clue as to what Lord Yggdrasil wished to speak with him about?" He asked finally, wine colored orbs piercingly sharp, making several of the group wince. Raine, on the other hand, was studying Kratos with a tentative look.

"I have something I wish to ask of you." She interjected, jerking Kratos' attention towards her. The silver haired half-elf drew a breath and leveled her gaze at him again. "Lloyd...is he...your son?"

---

"Oh, Lord Yggdrasil." Pronyma raised her eyebrows as she entered, seeing that Lloyd was still tucked away in the chamber, suspended in the air. "How long does the boy have to remain in there?" She asked cautiously, not knowing whether or not the High Seraphim would attack her for her question. Yggdrasil turned to look at her with a smirk.

"A while, Pronyma, a while." He replied, remembering what the next step required. Punching a single button on the panel, his face contorted into an insane grin as a dark violet glow began to fill the chamber, obscuring Lloyd from view. "It depends on how strong the test object is, and on how much mana their bodies can withstand being pumped with at a time. It could take anywhere from a day to a couple weeks. But seeing as how this is Kratos' son..." laughing coldly at the thought, he wondered why he had been so against this before? If Lloyd was successful, he would have other angels breed with humans, and their offspring would in turn become ARCH.

After all, wasn't there a saying once stating that a child shall surpass its parents?

"Speaking of Lord Kratos, were you going to inform him of this event?" Pronyma inquired, floating over to her master. "I believe he will be more willing to accept this happening if he knew of it from the start."

"You can fetch him here if you wish, but he doesn't need to be informed right now." Yggdrasil began to pace in midair, waiting for the light to vanish. "I had planned on it being a surprise, but he would be less reluctant to reject it if he knew beforehand..." Turning to Pronyma, he ordered, "Go and find him; I think he will be grateful I didn't kill off his only family." As the Desian left, Yggdrasil let out a insane laugh that would've woken Lloyd from his slumber, but the walls of the chamber stopped it from reaching his ears as the light around him dimmed.

---

"Well, is he, Kratos? Is Lloyd your son?" Raine's questions sent a chill through the room, and all attention was on her and the auburn in the doorway, who looked completely poleaxed. After a few minutes of simply gaping, Kratos sighed and looked at the floor.

"Yes...He is." The Seraph's response sent a wave of shock around the room, stunning everyone.

"Whoa, woah, woah. We were told that angels didn't have kids." Zelos shook his head, aqua eyes wide.

"That is true, but things..." Kratos didn't feel like giving the eight a reason for why he had done what he had, even though the answer was simple in his mind; he was in love. Scowling, he said coldly, "You must all head for the exit now; I will find out what Yggdrasil is planning." With that, he was gone before any of the others could make an objection.

---

Gliding around Welgaia, the auburn cursed the fact that he hadn't noticed sooner that Lloyd was missing. He hadn't seen the boy when he had helped them at the storage room, but had guessed that he might have been standing behind Regal or Zelos, and therefore out of his line of vision.

"Lord Kratos, there you are." Pronyma appeared at his side suddenly, making Kratos glare harshly at the woman before stopping and listening to what she had to say. "Lord Yggdrasil wishes for you to head down to testing room C-354; he has something he wishes to show you."

'I wonder if he's dissected my son and wants to show me...' Kratos thought with a lick of sarcastic and morbid humor, face betraying no emotions. Nodding mutely, he let the Desian leave his presence before heading down to the named testing room.

When he arrived, Kratos was greeted by a highly confusing and unusually chilling sight. Yggdrasil turned when he heard him enter, a twisted smile on his face as he watched the auburn look around the room, his eyes finally resting on the chamber as it hung suspended in the air. Seeing who was in the chamber, Kratos felt all the blood leave his face as he turned to Yggdrasil, face full of disbelief.

"What is happening to him?" He asked, a faint tremble going up and down his body. The High Seraphim laughed coldly and turned back to look at the teen.

"He is undergoing a special transformation, old friend." Yggdrasil replied cryptically, tapping a few more buttons on the screen. "It's known as ARCH, and it is an honor for such an inferior being to be the first to undergo such a transformation."

"...What happens in this...ARCH transformation?" Kratos asked, hiding his concern by telling himself he was lucky Yggdrasil hadn't killed Lloyd off. The High Seraph turned and gave him a cold smile.

"I cannot tell you all of that right now, but what I will tell you is this; he will be an angel trained to attack without hesitation." Laughing lightly, he added as he turned around, "And he will need to know of your bonds to him, Kratos, so that will have to be revealed as soon as he exits the chamber."

"And that shall be when?"

"I honestly don't know. It could be today, or it could be next year.

"That is, if he lives."

_**Li**__: I am so sorry for not getting this up last night. I was distracted and then chased off the computer. Gomendasai!! No killing me with anything—including that chainsaw of yours, Sage!!! I hope this chapter was a good as the first; I really tried... and please review. I KNOW there's more people out there reading it and not reviewing; please review, I like knowing people are interested in my stories. –nods-  
__**Hector: **__MITHOS!!! You call that-points at story-NOT RUBBING OFF ON HER!?!?!?!_


	3. Cycle 3

_**Li:**__Hehehheee__...-laughs insanely-  
__**M**__**i**__**thos**__Uhhh__...Sage? I think Li__'__s got something wicked in store for this chapter...EXCELLENT!!!-__does__ crazy laugh-__-Sage__'__s crazy laugh heard in background-  
__**Hector:**__ -stares in worry at three- Okay...I__'__ll go dig up the bomb shelter...Li-chan0767 does not own ToS. She does own the ARCH transformation, however..._

_Cycle 3

* * *

_

_**"**__**Why was I one of the chosen ones?  
**__**Until the fight I could not see  
**__**The magic and the strength of my power  
**__**It was beyond my wildest dreams**_

_****__****__**Dark wings they are descending  
**__**See shadows gathering around  
**__**One by one they are falling  
**__**Every time they try to strike us down**_

_****__****__**Don't you die on me  
**__**You haven't made your peace  
**__**Live life, breathe, breathe**__**"

* * *

**_

_"__If you wish to know what is happening to L__l__oyd, you must look up something by __the__ name of '__ARCH__"_ Sheena scowled as the memories of what Kratos had told them at their last encounter filtered into her mind as she and the half-elves at the Elemental Research Academy tried to manage enough of the Sylph's mana to create an EC prototype that could fly through the air with the Rheairds. It wasn't going so well, and this attempt would be the last.

"What's wrong, Sheena?" One of the half-elves asked, puzzled by the summoner's unusual silence. Sheena looked at him and sighed.

"Just something I'm trying to figure out." She explained, waving her hand vaguely. No matter where she and the others had looked, not even Raine could find something on this 'ARCH' that Kratos had mentioned. Not even in the royal records was such a thing listed; had Kratos simply made it up? But that didn't seem right at all, even though the fact that he was Lloyd's father was rather awkward...

"What are you trying to find out?" Another half-elf asked, the curiosity of the workers perked. "We might be able to help."

"Thanks, but what me and the others are trying to find out might be make-believe." Sheena looked at her feet, fist balled in frustration. "If the records at the palace don't have information on something like ARCH, then I doubt anything else does..." A wave of shock went through the room.

"A...ARCH?" One managed to breathe after a minute of shocked silence. "Why are you looking for information concerning that...that _**inhumane**_ project?" Sheena stared at the half-elves around her. They knew about ARCH, and they seemed to be afraid of it...what on earth did ARCH do?

"One of our friends seems to be connected to it." She replied, concern on her face. "We're looking for info on it so we can find out what's happening to him." The half-elves seemed relieved, and one seemed to be biting back a sigh of the same emotion. The senior half-elf in the lab spoke up.

"We have a book on the ARCH project, which we shall gladly give to you." As he spoke, another half-elf went to a shadowed bookshelf and drew out what seemed to be a book made of dried snake scales. "The pope asked us to make this project at one point, which we promptly refused to do." That sentence sent waves of dread down Sheena's spine as the half-elf handed her the book; if the lab half-elves refused an order from the Pope, ARCH must've been just what they said.

Inhumane.

Thanking the lab workers quickly, Sheena raced back to Zelos' place. The half-elves looked at one another in concern. "Do you think that was wise? That one emerald haired woman told us to destroy all copies of that book in existence."

"They won't use it against **their** wishes; besides, I think one of them will destroy it themselves..."

* * *

"RAINE!!! I'VE GOT A LEAD!!!" Sheena hollered as she burst into the mansion, earning stares from the six others. Panting as she walked up to the professor, she plopped the book in Raine's lap before collapsing into a chair across from her. "The workers at the Elemental Research Academy gave that to me. Said it was all about ARCH, but they said that it was inhumane."

"Did they care to elaborate?" Raine asked, opening the book to the first page, raising her eyebrows. When Sheena shook her head, the professor sighed and beckoned the others over. "I best read it aloud then..."

(Welgaia...)

"Lord Yggdrasil...I know that this might seem over worried coming from me..." Kratos began cautiously, glance shifting between Yggdrasil and his son locked away in the hibernation chamber. Yggdrasil gave him a reassuring-if slightly twisted-look.

"Don't worry, Sensei; Lloyd is just about ready. Was a week really that long to wait?" He replied, a sickening glee evident in his eyes. Kratos coughed into his hand.

"That is wonderful...I think." The auburn muttered. "But that is not what I came here to ask about." Yggdrasil raised an eyebrow as Kratos continued, "I apologize if this is too direct, but I must know what an ARCH is." The blond angel smirked coldly to himself; he had Kratos worried.

"Very well." He said wickedly, tapping a final button on the panel before taking a breath to speak.

"An ARCH is a far more advanced form of life form, even more so than a Protozoa." Raine read aloud, making the others gasp in shock. "Blessed with superior strength and skills, they are said to be an advanced form of angels, similar in wing development to a Seraphim, thus making it hard to tell the two apart.

"However..." Yggdrasil continued, relishing the shocked look on Kratos' face. "An ARCH has no need for an Exsphere or Cruxis Crystal, as the test subject's is fused with their heart. Not only does this eliminate the possibility of dying from old age, it also serves as a base for the superior abilities to take hold.

"This is the riskiest part of the transformation." Raine began the next paragraph, her stomach twisting into knots; no wonder the half-elves called it inhumane. "The test subject's vitals must be kept steady for this portion of the transformation, for if they unbalance, it could kill the subject within seconds.

"But after that part is over, the rest of the transformation is relatively simple." The High Seraphim felt waves of delight course through him as the look on his former teacher's face went from shock to utter disgust. "Once the heart and Exsphere are fused, all that needs to be done is wait, whilst correcting a few parts of the human mind.

"The first piece of the structure to be altered is the process of registering such things as hesitation and regret." Even Zelos felt the blood leave his face as Raine continued to read, trembling as she spoke. "ARCH are designed to be perfect assassins, without anything in them to stop their task.

"Then the memories can be altered with." Yggdrasil spared a glance up to where Lloyd lay, undisturbed in the chamber. "Although optional, it is often erased so that the ARCH cannot reconginze old friends and grudges that might interfere with their orders." Pausing, he looked Kratos over again. The auburn's face had gone from disgusted to utterly traumatized. Smirking and fighting back a bout of insane laughter, Yggrasil added on, "Do not worry, I did not alter them in any way. The rest of the transformation renders such memories useless anyways."

"What...?" Kratos gasped. "What does that mean...?"

"Oh my god...!!! AHH!" Raine's eyes flew wide open as she read a bit more to herself, and stood with a scream, book dropping from her hands. Colette bent down and picked it up, finding the space where Raine had stopped. She gulped.

"...The...the final stage of the ARCH transformation utilizes the erasing of all emotions." She spoke softly, trembling from head to toe. "In doing so, any unaltered or erased memories are automatically drained of any feelings that conspired then; it simply happened..." With that, the blond promptly fainted backwards with a sob.

Kratos felt his stomach drop through the floor; surely he didn't hear that right!! But from the twisted, insane grin on his former student's face, he knew that he hadn't misheard. Moaning, Kratos turned away and buried his hands in his face; he didn't want this!!!

A soft hum echoed in the room as the chamber lowered onto the floor, catching the attention of both Seraphim and making them turn. The wires and tubes retreated, but as soon as the one between Lloyd's heart and his Exsphere vanished, the cerulean gem flashed brightly for a minute.

Then it shattered, runes appearing on Lloyd's hand where it had once been...

* * *

_**"Don't you die on me  
**__****__**You**__** haven't made your peace  
**__**Live life, breathe, breathe**__****_

_**Dark wings they are descending  
**__****__**See**__** shadows gathering around  
**__**One by one they are falling  
**__**Every time they try to strike us down**_

_****__****__**As they took your soul away  
**__**The night turned into the day  
**__**Blinded by your rays of life  
**__**Give us the strength we needed"

* * *

**_

_**Mithos:**__ O-O  
__**Hector:**__ O-O Oh. My. __God.  
__**Li:**__ I__'__m sure you__'__re not the only one thinking that, Hector-__sama__...-grins evilly before doing crazy/evil laugh-__ I don__'__t own the bits at the beginning and end either; those are the lyrics for the song __"__Dark W__i__ngs__"__ by Within Temptations. __–__more psychotic laughter-  
__**Mithos:**__ ...Review, all you humans reading this...O-O__'__ I didn__'__t think Sage and I were THIS bad an influence...Maybe I should stop letting Li read his __"__Evil Lloyd__"__ stories...  
__**K**__**r**__**atos:**__ X-X WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO LLOY__D?!_


	4. Cycle 4

_**Li: **__People want to know what's going to happen next, so...he heh heh...Here's cycle four of ARCH, which is by far my most popular story up!! WOO!!! -dances about-  
__**Kent:**__ She's left out the fact that she's most likely going to get killed...  
__**Sain: **__And we should be worried about this why?  
__**Kent:**__ Good point.  
__**Li:**__ Oh, you two are mean!!! -sniffle- Meanies!  
__**Sain:**__ Immature.  
__**Li:**__ You're one to talk!! -gets into fight w/ Sain-  
__**Kent:**__ -sweatdrop- ...Li-chan0767 does not own Tales of Symphonia. -grabs rice ball and eats it while watching the fight between Li and Sain-_

_Cycle four

* * *

_

"Haru? Haru, why are you distracted?"

"...I thought that I sensed something..."

"Was it another ARCH?"

"...Yes..."

"Which way?"

"That is the thing. I cannot tell; the aura is fuzzy and blurred." The two stood quietly, the fabric on their uniforms barely rustling as the wind blew by them. The one known as Haru turned her face skyward, sighing. "I had hoped, Kaze, that the last documents concerning ARCH would've been destroyed..."

"It seems not. But I did get word from Aki and Chi that the documents about the Regiments were neutralized." Kaze assured the first. Haru didn't respond, but rather sighed again, spreading azure wings as she took to the air. Kaze sighed and followed her, aqua wings alight.

* * *

The seven friends were stunned and petrified; Lloyd would lose all emotions...Colette still had not regained consciousness, and Raine was trembling from head to toe. Genius looked at his sister in concern, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sis, we..." He began, but ultimately ended with a shaky sigh; nothing he could say would convince his friends that Lloyd would get out of Welgaia unscathed, let alone the same good natured swordsman that they had known before. He would very much be their enemy.

"So, what do we do now?" Presea spoke up after a few minutes of silence, looking around. "The chances of us succeeding against Yggdrasil if Lloyd has indeed been transformed into an ARCH are decreased to...I'd say Point zero one to five billion against."

"Is that even possible?" Zelos asked suddenly, looking around in denial. "Look, we know Lloydie, right? He's got to have a way to avoid losing his emotions!!!" His seriousness startled the others greatly.

"The transformation is absolute, and above all else, irreversible from what the data says." Raine stated sadly, looking at the book with a sense of remorse. Rage began to build up in place of it, but she bit her lip from exploding while Colette awoke. The blond looked around at the room before her eyes landed on the book.

Her eyes narrowed, fuchsia wings flaring into life as she began to cry tears of rage. The others, who were shocked to see the angel so angry, backed up in fear as holy light began to build around Colette.

In a flash, the light had engulfed the book, incinerating it. The blond angel stood and walked out of Zelos' mansion with a huffed noise, not bothering to listen to her friend's concerned questions.

Finally finding the small park hidden in the shade, Colette walked over to a bench and sat harshly down upon it, her mind in utter rejection; Lloyd was NOT going to lose his emotions, he was NOT!!! Crying softly into her arm, the angel didn't notice the raven haired man walking towards her until he knelt before her.

"Are you alright, miss?" He asked, startling Colette into looking up at a pair of grey eyes. After a minute, she sighed and shook her head.

"No...One of my best friends...he was taken away from me..." Breaking down completely, she leaned on the stranger, who looked mildly shocked. Letting the angel sob against his shoulder for a minute, his head shot up at the sight of something high in the heavens.

"So...that's what I sensed all along...Dammit, what're you doing with that information?" He asked the sky, not expecting a response at all. But when the soft voice reached his ears, he didn't panic in the least.

_'Follow them, Yuki. We might find out whether or not there is a new ARCH around, and just how it reached that level...'_

* * *

(Welgaia)

Kratos felt his heart stop as the door to the chamber opened, and Lloyd's eyes opened slowly. The reddish brown orbs hadn't changed all that much, and as Kratos looked on, the brunette seemed to have changed little physically.

But what all had the stripping away of his emotions done to the newly transformed ARCH inside? Trembling inside from head to toe, Kratos watched as Lloyd looked at him without so much as a bit of hate-or any other emotion, for that matter-in his deep irises.

"Kratos." Lloyd stated simply, before turning to look at the blond angel behind him. "Yggdrasil."

"That is 'LORD Yggdrasil', young angel." Yggdrasil corrected him immediately, grinning madly. "As of now, you are a member of Cruxis, and all of your orders come directly from me, or from your father, Kratos." Lloyd blinked blankly before turning around to look at Kratos. For the briefest of seconds, the auburn thought he saw a flicker of shock there in Lloyd's eyes.

But how could he be shocked-he had no emotions, right? He waited for Lloyd to do something, his right hand clenched tightly into a fist. After a few seconds, Lloyd spoke again.

"Are you really my father, Kratos?" He asked, nothing more. The seraph sighed lightly.

"...Yes, I am." Again, the seraph could've sworn he saw a flicker of something in Lloyd's eyes, but it was quickly masked and he nodded mutely in acceptance.

"I understand..."

"While I am glad that you two are once more in good light," Yggdrasil broke in impatiently, "We must hurry and present Lloyd to the rest of Cruxis as our newest member, and test him to decide where he shall be in rank." The High Seraphim lied about the last bit ever so slightly; Lloyd was just as powerful as-if not more so- than he was. The teen would be on the same rank as the four Seraphim, and yet not a Seraphim-he was an ARCH, not a seraphim, and therefore in need of his own place.

"...I understand." Kratos replied before turning to Yggdrasil and bowing. "Lord Yggdrasil, if Lloyd and I may take your leave to go and prepare..."

"Go ahead. Lloyd's uniform should be at your place, and I shall present him with his weapons at the beginning of the trial." The blond dismissed the two Aurions with a wave of his hand, and after the pair left, he burst out with a bout of insane laughter.

--

Lloyd stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the pristine white overcoat that fell over his shoulders so that it didn't completely obscure the dark vermilion and bronze uniform that he wore beneath it, a grimace on his face. Finally satisfied, he turned around just as Kratos appeared in the doorway.

"Ah, good." Kratos smiled weakly as Lloyd walked beside him out into the empty streets of Welgaia. "Lord Yggdrasil is waiting for us at his castle, and we have to fly there." In all reality, they didn't have to, but Kratos wanted to see what his son's wings looked like.

"Understood." Lloyd monotoned, and a pale silver light glowed around him as a pair of large, spectral, dove grey wings grew from his back, unsettling the vermilion tails that hung from his overcoat. Kratos blinked in shock; he'd been expecting a color of some sort, not a pun on the meaning of Lloyd's name. Deciding not to bother with questions, the two took to the air towards the High Seraphim's castle.

The sight of Yggdrasil seated calmly in front of the rest of the angels as the Aurions arrived sent a chill down Kratos' spine. Squeezing his son's shoulder, the Seraphim flew off to stand at Yggdrasil's right hand as the High Seraphim stood. As if on cue, Lloyd knelt before the blond, dove grey wings fluttering mindlessly behind him.

"Lord Yggdrasil." He intoned, glancing up at the older angel in emotionless perfection. (A/N: Ooh!! That just sounds so...Jaffar-ish!! -Sage, you know who I'm talking about!)

"Lloyd Aurion," He began, shivering in delight at the sound of the name. "You have proven yourself to be a fierce warrior, and as a newly created member of Cruxis it is time to test your new potential that comes with the angel transformation. I, Yggdrasil, High Seraphim and leader of Cruxis, shall present that challenge before you now. But first..." Snapping his fingers, He beckoned Pronyma forward.

The Desian held out a pair of deep prismatic blades with silver and vermilion hilts. Taking one in each hand, the emotionless teen looked in respect back at Yggdrasil.

"Those are the Aether Blades, Lloyd Aurion." The blond gestured to Pronyma, having the woman stand at his left before continuing. "They are your new weapons, fitting of an angel of Cruxis, not to mention one whose birthright was to ascend to our highest ranks. Now, stand and prove your might, son of Kratos!!" With that, an immense demon appeared, its grotesque horns razor sharp.

Standing, Lloyd shifted his grip on the Aether Blades, a blank expression on his face. The runes on his hand glowed brightly as he began to plan on how best to attack the demon. Kratos noticed this and raised his eyebrows; what did those runes do?

Just as the demon struck, Lloyd sidestepped and severed its right arm with little effort before leaping up onto its back with unmatched speed and grace. As the demon flailed, attempting to get him off, the teen leapt into the air as he charged a spell.

"Denizens of heaven and demons of hell, show this soul to the afterlife!!" His blades began glowing with holy light, and iridescent feathers flew all around him. "Speak with the God of Death!!"

"Judgment!!!" The holy light rained down from on high, striking down the demon and putting it into a critical state. Brining his two blades together, Lloyd soared down right at the beast. "Divine Falcon!!" Diving straight through the beast, he stood as it crumbled to dust, and turned to the sound of applause. Kratos seemed pleased, and Yggdrasil was delighted. Pronyma seemed slightly scared, but none took much notice.

"Excellent!!!" Yggdrasil cried, turning to face the angels behind him. "I believe that appeases all of you correct? The son of Kratos has proven his worth to us all!!" Turning his back on the cheering angels, Yggdrasil smirked as Lloyd knelt once more, the swords at his sides. "You, Lloyd Aurion, shall be placed in a separate rank on par with the Four Seraphim, my ARCH."

"Heed me, angels of Cruxis!" Raising his voice as Lloyd stood once more and sheathed the blades, Yggdrasil commanded, "From now on, the youth before us shall be known as Lord Lloyd, and shall be treated with utmost respect!! Welcome young Lord Lloyd Aurion to Cruxis, and never fear the humans that defy us again!!"

Whilst the angels cheered their delight, Lloyd bent his head, seemingly looking at his feet. But in all reality, there was a dark smirk on his face.


	5. Cycle 5

_**Li:**__ I am on a roll!! n.n!! Here's the fifth cycle of ARCH!!! I do not own ToS!_

_And since I know there's a reviewer out there who doesn't like OCs at all, I'm sorry, but there shall be eight of them in this fic, but they are RELEVANT and NECESSARY to the plot. I apologize if this kills your interest in the story, but I'm sorry; I couldn't manage this story if these OCs were absent. Gomensai! –Bows- Only four of them shall appear in this cycle, but all eight will be seen before the end of the fic._

_Cycle five

* * *

_

"Isn't Colette back yet?" Genius asked after a few minutes, staring out at the darkening Meltokio streets. They had decided to stay put for a while, in order to adjust to the fact that their old friend was now…their enemy.

"She should be…Ah, there she is!" Sheena pointed out of the window as the blond came walking into view. "Huh? Who's that with her?" The other five blinked when they saw the raven haired young man walking beside Colette, talking lightly with her.

In stark contrast to his hair, the newcomer wore a pale silver colored trench coat over a pristine white shirt and pants, a staff in his left hand. The color of his eyes was impossible to tell at the distance that the two were at, but as he came closer, Zelos felt his eyes widen.

'Okay…' He thought, stepping away from the window. 'Whoever that guy is, his mana is INSANE. Not to mention nearly identical to Yggdrasil's but not as evil…maybe I should watch my back around him…' By that time, Colette had reached the mansion, and let in the newcomer first.

"Sorry I came back so late, everyone." Colette stated calmly, still lacking her usual cheer. At least she wasn't going to destroy the mansion around their ears, but it was still painful to see Colette so upset. "But I met Yuki here and the two of us just started talking, and…"

"I'm sorry if I took up so much of her time, but she was telling me that you had just lost a friend." Yuki spoke up, bowing low in respect. Looking at the group with grey eyes, he smiled lightly. "She was so distraught that I didn't think to leave her."

"Well, thank you for that." Raine replied, looking Yuki's ensemble over. Apart from a pair of shoulder guards on his trench coat, he really didn't wear armor, and his staff was topped by a pair of dragons biting the others tail, forming a loop that had steel rings dangling down from it. Like Zelos, she could sense a strong amount of bizarre mana flowing around him, and it was a very light silver color.

He felt nice though, so she didn't panic.

"Hey, now that we have everything, shouldn't we go and heal Colette?" Presea spoke up softly, eyeing Yuki with mild suspicion. "Since we have cleared up our area of confusion, letting Colette wander around untreated isn't a very wise decision." The others nodded, and they walked outside, Yuki following them.

"May I come along?" he asked cautiously, making the others stop and turn. Colette nodded before the others could raise an objection, and Yuki pulled out a pure white Rheaird with a smile. As he and the others took to the air, a voice buzzed over his communicator.

"_Hey, Yuki!! We're around the Gaorroacha forest!!! Ozette's been torched!!"_ He recognized Chi's voice instantly. _"Do you think it was Cruxis, or maybe…"_

'_Just go check it out.'_ Yuki replied quietly, casting a glance around at the others. _'I'll talk with you later.'_

_

* * *

_(Welgaia) 

Lloyd stood, staring through the violet mist at the stars above. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he seemed lost in thought. When Yggdrasil floated over to him, he barely twitched when the High Seraphim placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Lloyd, I was going to check up on your friends, and I believe it is time..." He grinned briefly, "...to let them know who I truly am."

"I see." Lloyd replied, turning around. "But why do you tell me this, my lord?"

"There is a high chance of your former companions attacking me, and I want you to stop them for me. Don't kill them if that's at all possible, just stop them from attacking." Lloyd nodded.

"Understood. Are we leaving now then?" He asked, face completely blank. When Yggdrasil nodded and vanished, he stayed put for a minute, chewing on his lower lip before vanishing as well.

* * *

At Altessa's house, the group stopped and treated Colette, while Genius and Mithos talked for a bit before they all went to bed. Mithos sat at the window, looking outside. He grinned to himself when he saw the light shine off of Lloyd's white coat.

The next morning, the others were all sitting around the table talking to one another when Colette woke up. Yuki sat near the window, staring at the clouds without a care in the world.

"I don't care what happens to us, I vote we go save Lloyd from Yggdrasil!!" Zelos' adamant statement, accompanied by his fist contacting the table made the two turn. Yuki watched mutely as the redhead continued, "If it was one of us, he would be the one leading the charge to go rescue us!! We can't abandon him and let Yggdrasil have his way with him!!" (A/N: O-O I just got the most DISTURBING mental picture. IT BURNS!! BAD YAOI, BAD!!!)

"While that is true, going after Lloyd is certain suicide." Raine cut in, shaking her head. "But I agree, we should save him." The rest of the others nodded, but Mithos smiled cruelly to himself before standing in front of the door.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that." He stated before stepping out of the door, heading away from the house. Genius paled and chased him, the others right behind him. Yuki hesitated.

"I thought so." He stated calmly, before speaking into his communicator. _'Fuyu, get your ass over here; I've found our Fallen Angel.' _Grabbing his staff, he headed outside.

Mithos halted when he reached the spot near where Lloyd perched upon the rock face nearby and turned to face the group as they neared him. Genius spoke first.

"Mithos...what do you mean you can't let us go rescue Lloyd?" he asked, a feeling of dread deep in the pit of his stomach. The blond half-elf smiled calmly before coughing into his arm. When he looked up next, he had a twisted, malicious grin on his face.

"Exactly what I said." He replied, switching to his older voice. The group jumped in horror, making him laugh. "Why would I let you all waltz into my kingdom and steal my newest recruit? I can find SO many new uses for him..." As he spoke, he allowed his angelic mana to burst forth, transforming him into his adult form. The others were all petrified, and Yuki cursed.

Zelos was the first to recover. Drawing his sword, he charged at the waiting angel. "DIE!!!" He was close enough to hit him.

A sudden blur of red and red appeared before him, drop kicking him in the stomach. It was painful, with enough power to send him flying a good distance. Standing and coughing up blood, he saw who had hit him and froze.

"...Lloyd?" He asked in disbelief. The brunette nodded slowly, no expression present on his face. Colette shook her head.

"Lloyd? It's us!!" she wailed, running towards Lloyd, tears in her eyes. She managed to throw her arms around him before she felt the front of her outfit being grabbed.

"...While it is true that we once met...grew up together, even..." Lloyd's cold voice whispered in her ear as he lifted her one handed above his head, shifting his grip so that it was around her neck, "I have no such thing as friends."

That single statement KILLED the angel's friends. The look of absolutely nothing on the brunette's face as Colette cried for him was heart wrenching, and was only added onto as he casually threw her aside, like a toy that no longer held his interest. She laid where she landed, too heartbroken to even stand again. Yggdrasil laughed coldly.

"Now, I'll leave you and your..._**friends**_ to get reacquainted with one another." He stated. Lloyd's eye flickered back briefly towards him.

"As you say...Lord Yggdrasil." Hearing the words 'Lord Yggdrasil' from Lloyd's mouth only served to horrify the seven left standing. Lloyd really was against him...

"...YOU BASTARD!!!" Sheena yelled, crying. Drawing her cards, she ran straight for him, only to see him dodge and disable her by kneeling atop of her back, twisting one arm behind her head. While he did so, Zelos charged again, only to have Lloyd parry his sword with one of his own before being kicked aside once more. Not once had the brunette released his grip on Sheena.

"Ugh!" The kunoichi coughed. "If you want to kill us, just do it!!" She yelled, turning her head to look at Lloyd. "Quite screwing around!!"

"Lord Yggdrasil simply told me to stop you; that doesn't mean I have to kill you." Lloyd replied, carelessly tossing Sheena back towards the others. "However...if you want to die..." A dark grey light shone around him. "I shall kill you." The light condensed into Lloyd's dove grey wings, and his mana surged.

Stretching out an arm open handed, he began to gather light into his hand, aimed right at Sheena. The others couldn't move; he was dead serious about killing them. Yuki swore; this was who Haru had mentioned.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!" He hollered, leveling his staff and leaping in front of Sheena just as Lloyd fired the beam. Waiting for just the right second, he swung his staff at the beam, putting his mana behind it to deflect the beam into the cliff.

The solid light tore through the solid rock to disappear into the morning sky. Lloyd looked at Yuki in surprise. "You are...?" He asked. Yuki grinned ruefully.

Hitting the communicator in his ear, he stated loudly, "Aki, Chi, Fuyu. I've found our mystery Beta-ARCH." The others stared in shock; Yuki had friends, and they were looking for ARCH?! Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

"Calling your friends won't do you much good." He stated calmly, drawing the Aether blades. Yuki laughed.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure." A pale silver light radiated around the raven haired youth as he continued, "After all, you're not the only ARCH around!" A pair of silver wings erupted from his back, and an insignia of a sapphire cross backed by a gold star appeared on his trench coat.

Raine froze. 'He called himself an ARCH!! But...how can he be an ARCH? He clearly has emotions...'

"I see." Lloyd replied, then charged at blinding speeds. "I can't hold back now, can I?"

"No you can't!" Yuki replied, swinging his staff. Lloyd leapt just as the staff came near him, getting nicked by the sharpened steel rings attached to the looping dragons. Yuki leapt up after him, noticing the burst of gold mana heading their way.

"HAWK AXE!!!" A young girl's voice rang through the air, and an axe shaped like a thunderbird gouged Lloyd's back before he ducked away. A third ARCH, this newcomer had her orange hair tied up in a single high ponytail, and clutched her axe with a single hand. Golden wings similar in shape to Colette's grew from her back, and she was grinning.

"So you're the reason Yuki paged us over from Ozette?" She asked, cocking her head to one side. Lloyd gave her a look.

"Us?" He stated, then flew straight up as a roar of fury tore through the air and a blur of black, orange, red and gold flew straight at him. The blur formed a scroll toting ARCH with wild tri colored hair, claws and fangs wielding an immense pair of spell cards in his hands. Black wings arched from his shoulders, and he turned his head, wondering where his quarry had gone to, sniffing.

"Above, Aki, Chi!!" Yuki gestured, flying up. Aki growled and beat him to it, roaring and swinging wildly at Lloyd, who flew straight up and away at his approach.

'He's blind, and he relies on his sense of smell and his hearing to locate his opponent.' He summarized, observing the wild ARCH beneath him. 'The girl can see...and she's behind me!' Spinning, the brunette parried a blow from Chi's axe, wounding her arm with his free sword.

"Ah!!"

"CHI!!" Aki's roar echoed around the enclosed cliff area, and the shinobi-ARCH flew up. "TIGER SEAL!!!" Lloyd preformed a guardian spell, deflecting the majority of the seal away, but he felt like weights had been attached to his person.

'This seal lowers speed. I see...I can use this to my advantage...But first...' "BLADE WHIRLWIND!" Spinning around with his swords at high speeds, Lloyd succeeded in knocking the opposing ARCH a good distance away. He then dived, slower than before. Yuki saw him coming, and swung up with his staff.

He over shot, allowing Lloyd to bring his twin blades down onto his shoulders, "Judgment blade!" A blade of light followed the falling ARCH, who dodged the solid sword, watching it shatter the ground beneath it. Looking up at Lloyd, he suddenly sensed something...unusual...

'!!!' Watching as Lloyd flew back up towards the charging Aki and Chi, he spoke over the communicator, _"The two of you get away! There's something odd about him!!"_

"_What?" _Chi replied, then felt mana build around Lloyd's hands. "AKI!! DUCK, he's attacking!!"

"_Let him go."_ Haru's voice sounded in all three communicators. _"Fuyu is on her way, but let the grey escape." _Aki and Chi nodded, and dove just as Lloyd unleashed a beam of prismatic light from both hands. The waywards attacks pulverized stone into sand, and the ARCH stopped briefly, then vanished.

"What the-? Why'd he leave?" Genius asked as the three ARCH landed. Yuki grimaced.

"His master probably called him back." Aki growled, withdrawing black wings and spitting off to the side. "Damn Yggdrasil, perverting the ARCH..."

"YUKI...YOU...IDIOT!!!" A new, female voice rang through the air before anyone else could even breathe, and a blur of pale pink and blue landed feet first on Yuki's back. "You let our Fallen Angel escape!! He's the one that Father Michelangelo has us after!!" the blur had formed a young woman with pale-nearly white-turquoise hair and pink eyes, turquoise wings with pink accents fluttering behind her.

"Hey...Fuyu...YOU'RE LATE!!!" Yuki responded, uppercutting the woman into the sky. "Besides, he has an ARCH on his side, a Beta-ARCH." The newcomer-Fuyu-stopped, shocked.

"Are you sure it was a Beta-ARCH?" she asked, landing beside the others. "I didn't sense any of those around here..."

"We believe so...but he did smell a little...off..." Aki offered, walking/crawling closer. Regal wondered briefly if the ARCH had been raised by animals before Raine spoke up.

"You reffered to Lloyd as a 'Beta-ARCH, right?" She asked; the four ARCH nodded grimly. "I don't understand; what's the difference between an ARCH and a Beta-ARCH?"

"Haru has given us a rendezvous location and time; she says that Watsu and Hi are on their way as well." Chi spoke up, walking over to where the others were. "She says that she shall explain everything there, and to bring the 'grey-one's' friends as well."

"And where would that be?" Yuki asked, turning around.

"The Tenshi's Guild headquarters in Trident."

"That small island city?" Zelos asked, stunned. "That's supposed to be around Volt's temple..."

"That's where we are headed." Fuyu cut in, fuchsia eyes level. "Let's get going."

* * *

(Welgaia)

Kratos turned just as Lloyd re-entered their living quarters, pushing his book aside. "Why are you hurt?" He asked, concerned. Lloyd looked briefly at the wounds on his person before shrugging.

"Nothing serious; my former companions weren't alone." He said bluntly, looking at what Kratos had been reading. "Photos...?"

"Yes...From the time I spent with you and Anna..." Kratos nodded before growing grave. "Lloyd, when you encounter your friends again, I want you to..."

* * *

_**Li:**__ Before I forget, Father Michelangelo is NOT an OC; what he is shall be explained in the next chapter, along with the appearance of the last four...okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush; All the OCs are ARCH as well, but they all have EMOTIONS!!!_

_Before you all scream that I'm defying my own rules, I have a little surprise in store...-insane laugh- Review if you want to know what... _


	6. Cycle 6

_**Li: **__Okay; it's official. Until I finish with this, all my other stories shall take a backseat priority. With 1,000 hits and 42 reviews (Woo! Favorite number!), ARCH is my most popular story. And I have SO many ideas for it; it would be such a shame not to use them…_

_What happens in this chapter, you might want to ask? A WHOLE EFFING AMOUNT OF EXPLOSIONS!! TEAM SUZAKU VERSUS LLOYDIE!! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS!!! –calms down-_

_So…I do not own ToS! I do own Hi (Pronounced 'hee,') and Watsu._

_Oh yeah, there is a pattern to the names of the __Gamma-__ARCH __(The OCs) __and their teams; first person to guess what it is gets a summon spirit cookie! The same prize goes to who correctly guesses who Father Michelangelo is… _

_Cycle six

* * *

_

"I wonder why Haru is having us report back to base so suddenly…" The emerald haired man muttered as he and his companion walked around the outskirts of Triet. "It's not every day that something this big comes up and we need to come back."

"Apparently…Teams Genbu and Byakko have come across a Beta-ARCH…" The auburn woman replied, shifting her violet gaze to the sky.

"You're joking Hi."

"I kid you not, Watsu. When have I ever joked before?" Hi retorted, looking calmly at her partner. "Besides, I can vouch for them." Tapping her communicator, the auburn watched calmly as a pair of spectral vermilion glasses appeared over her eyes. On the inside, different colored spots showed up on maps of both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant. "Currently, Teams Genbu and Byakko are leading two half-elves, two humans, and two Delta-ARCH towards base."

"So the two Delta-ARCH are on the same side, eh?" Watsu laughed loudly, swinging his broadsword around to the side. "That's never happened before!!"

"That is because the Seraphim have allowed it to happen." Hi agreed, with a nod, eyes suddenly widening. "There's a Beta-ARCH approaching here at high speeds, coming in from ten o'clock!!" Retracting her glasses, Hi bit her lip. 'So that's what Haru meant; there is something off about this one…'

--

Lloyd landed noiselessly on the desert sands, looking around for the glint of blue that was the Renegade base; Yggdrasil had given him orders to destroy the bases in both worlds. Not only would it limit where the seven friends could go, but it would also destroy the remaining Renegades.

Something pale red and vermilion in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Turning around, Lloyd was about to over and see what it was when the tell tale whistle of a sword through the air signaled a sneak attack.

Leaping aside and landing lightly, Lloyd drew a single Aether blade as he started at the assaulter. The emerald haired newcomer wielded an immense broadsword with one hand, and he wore a jacket tied around his waist that was pale sapphire in color. A reckless grin was on his face, and he rested his blade on his shoulder with a grin.

"So you're the Beta that we've all been hearing about, eh?" He asked bluntly, eyeing the newcomer. "I can't see, smell, or sense mana like the rest of the lot, but I can tell just by looking at your eyes!" Lloyd didn't bother blinking; he wasn't fazed by this newcomer.

"Quiet, aren't you?" Watsu asked, leveling his blade so that he could strike at a second's notice; Hi hadn't said how high the Beta's mana count was, so he had to be prepared.

"...My destination lies behind you." Lloyd explained flatly, not really wanting to get into another fight; if his brush with his friends and a trio of not completely prepared Gamma-ARCH could be called that. Watsu laughed lightly.

"Sorry, but I really don't think that will sit well with me." He stated, then bellowed, "Oi! HI, GET OUT HERE!!"

"You don't have to yell, you big baka." The auburn muttered darkly, emerging and unstrapping one of her immense chakrams from her back. The wing motif was rather unique, and if the way she was holding that weapon was any sign, she knew how to use it. In a burst of sapphire and vermilion light, the two Gamma-ARCH that stood before Lloyd unveiled their wings.

"BURNING SAND!!!" Watsu didn't even seem to wait for Hi to tell him the level that Lloyd had his mana at, and decided to start the fireworks early. The resulting explosion of fire and sand, along with the accompanying blast were noticeable all the way over in Triet, causing several alarms to go off in the village.

Lloyd scowled drawing both Aether blades as he unveiled his grey wings. Hi chose the Beta-ARCH's brief moment of distraction to hurl one of her immense chakrams in his direction. Lloyd barely managed to deflect it, raising a hand.

"Prisma Beam!!" The burst of prismatic light shot past Hi and Watsu, both of whom shot up into the air as the beam hit a cliff behind them, causing another earth shattering boom. Lloyd cursed lightly and emotionlessly, taking to the skies after the two Gamma-ARCH.

"Eruption!!" Hi sent the fire spell towards Lloyd, who managed to use Guardian in the nick of time, leaving him only slightly scorched. Right in synch with his partner, Watsu unleashed a mid-air Hell hound attack. Lloyd would've grown irritated with them, if he had possessed emotions. Since he didn't, he simply tried to blow them up as well.

"Indignation!!" The lightning spell scored hits on both of the ARCH, making Watsu's hair stand out slightly on end. Hi on the other hand, had activated her glasses and was peering at Lloyd through them.

'_Be careful; he's got a level-A plus mana strength.' _She told her partner over their communicators. Watsu snorted quietly; as if getting hit by an Indignation spell didn't tell him that much.

"Flame Lance!!" The flaming spear came too slowly at Lloyd who flew up and charged mana again.

"Holy Lance!!" The lance of light hit the lance of fire and exploded on impact, sending a shockwave through the air. It was safe to say that the people of Triet were all hiding in their homes at this point, not wanting to get caught out in what might very well be the first sign of Armageddon.

"Flamethrower!! (A/N: Whoo! Poke'mon moves!!)" Hi sent the pillar of fire straight at Lloyd, who countered with a Prsima Beam. The fire and mana met in midair, transforming into a single writhing sphere of glowing gold light before exploding outwards again. Hi grimaced, then gasped; this mana signature was so similar...could it be? It was!!

"Watsu!! This one's an Aurion!!" She yelled at her partner, who seemed to be preparing to do something.

"I hear ya, Hi!!" the emerald haired ARCH replied, the tattoo of the ARCH insignia appearing where his shirt was torn. Flying at Lloyd, swinging his sword like madman, Watsu, cried "Steel inferno!!!" The blows that landed on the younger ARCH's arms burned like nothing else, comparable to Efreet's hellfire.

"Nng...Chaos Surge!!" Lloyd yelled, slamming both swords flat first into the larger man's torso. Prismatic light burst out from the swords, causing yet another explosion and sending Watsu back a few meters or so before he charged. "Prisma Beam!!"

Casting a Force Field, Watsu observed the damaged the beam, which had split around his shield of mana, did to the surrounding area. The stone was broken into large pieces, and the broken pieces fell to the desert floor with a crash.

"Quite the dangerous one, eh?" He yelled at Lloyd, who stared blankly in response. His eyes had caught sight of the Renegade base, but could he destroy it before they stopped him?

Hi felt his guard drop, and she drew her second chakram, letting the insignias engraved into the wings of the weapons show. Gathering her mana, she focused them in the blades of the immense spinning blades.

"SUZAKU'S FEATHERS!!!" Flinging both of the discs at the same time, she watched the translucent and yet solid feathers pummel into Lloyd, who managed to knock the three foot diameter chakrams away before they did any serious damage.

'To hell with it.' Lloyd yelled in his mind, suddenly aiming both Aether blades at the earth beneath him. "...SUPER JUDGMENT BLADE!!!" Sending the blade of pure mana into the sand, he succeeded in his aim; creating an enormous burst of sand and light, with a loud roar following it that momentarily gave him enough time to gather his remaining mana. Putting the Aether blades back in their scabbards, he brought both hands together above his hands, a prismatic orb forming in his hands.

"PRISMA...CANNON!!!" Bringing both hands down, the young ARCH fired an immense beam of solid prismatic mana at the blue building.

With a noise to make even a person living in Luin go deaf, the base exploded into bursts of multicolored light. Lloyd felt his wings sag; that single burst had taken up almost all of his mana to do.

'I guess I shouldn't use that all that often then...' he thought, but then grunted when Watsu's sword made contact with the back of his arm. The Gamma-ARCH seemed ready to chop his head off, he was so enraged.

Just as his blade came down towards Lloyd's neck, Hi stopped him; translation, she threw one of her chakrams at the blade, stopping it.

"Let him live; Father Michelangelo wants us to report back to base immediately." She explained upon seeing the venomous look from her partner. Jerking her head towards Lloyd, she commented, "Do you honestly think he can do much more damage than what he already has done?" Watsu had to agree with that logic, and vanished in a flurry of feathers.

Once she was sure that he was gone, Hi floated over to where Lloyd was hovering in midair. Stopping once she was right beside him, she placed a hand on his arm, transferring mana into his exhausted body.

"???" Lloyd looked at her blankly.

"I have a promise that I have to keep with someone; letting you die would mean I failed to keep it." The auburn stated calmly, sighing. "Like father like son...guess it runs in the family..." Lloyd froze; she knew his father.

Deciding not to ask, Lloyd nodded and vanished, heading for Welgaia. Hi sighed loudly to herself before vanishing as well, headed for the same place as her comrade.

* * *

(Welgaia)

"Lord Yggdrasil, the Renegade base in Sylvarant has been decimated." Lloyd intoned, kneeling before the blond angel. "However, it seems that their leader was not present in the base at the same time as my attack."

"That is alright." Yggdrasil nodded, grinning wickedly. "As long as you have prevented those rebels from moving freely between the worlds, you have succeeded." Turning around, he smiled softly up at where his sister's earthreal form lay suspended in the air, inside the Great Seed. "Soon, dear sister, you shall live again."

"...The Lady Martel, you miss her dearly, don't you?" Lloyd asked, voice soft. Yggdrasil sighed, once more the young hero he had once been.

"Yes, I cannot live without her..." He breathed, barely hearing Lloyd's whisper of 'I see'. A few minutes of silence passed before either spoke.

"If that is all, I shall take my leave; the Prisma Cannon took most of my strength." The ARCH turned around and walked away, but as he did so, he took something from Yggdrasil's table and hid it down his shirt front.

* * *

_**Li:**__ And there you have it. He heh...I almost asked myself if Deidara was in the fight, there was so many things blowing up...And what exactly did Lloydie take from Yggi? O-O. I ain't tellin._

_But anyway, I've got the ending planned out, but I also have the ALTERNATE ending planned out, and I have to ask: would you like it if I do the alternate ending as a separate fic after I finish up ARCH? So that you could see what would happen if things turn out differently after a certain point?_

_Anyway, let me know in your reviews!!_


	7. Cycle 7

_**Li:**__and__ here is Cycle seven of ARCH, in which the last two Gamma-ARCH are unveiled, the story behind the ARCH transformation is revealed, and Hi__'__s knowledge of the Aurion family is __mentioned__. And there is also a little confession from Colette..._

_I do not own ToS. I do own the G__a__mma-ARCH however._

_Cycle seven

* * *

_

Colette looked up at the tall building that they were approaching, her face clouded over in pain and denial. Lloyd...had hurt her...NO!! It wasn't Lloyd, but a puppet shaped like Lloyd!! Lloyd would never hurt her, and—

"OI!!!" A loud male yell boomed in the area, making the seven friends jump, Aki wince in pain due to his heightened hearing, Chi facepalm herself with a mutter of 'baka ne', Fuyu curse colorfully, and Yuki sigh.

"That's Watsu for you..." He muttered, audible enough for the others to turn and look at him. "Ah, Watsu is a member of Team Suzaku, and is another Gamma-ARCH."

"He's an idiot." Chi muttered flatly.

"I wouldn't call him that; he just only understands combat." Fuyu replied, shaking her head while exercising her arms. Suddenly she bellowed. "COME OUT HERE YOU EFFING PYROS!!!"

"I resent being called that." A female voice retorted, and a wisp of vermilion and violet fire appeared near the group, and an auburn woman with violet eyes appeared before them, two immense chakrams strapped to her back.

Understandably, the auburn hair and blunt way of speaking reminded Raine of a certain Seraphim...

"KRATOS!!!" the silver half-elf yelled out in fear, pulling out her staff. The others present all stared at her in confusion.

"Uh, Raine?" Sheena asked, sweatdropping whilst pointing at the auburn. "That's a woman, not a guy...besides; she dresses nothing like Kratos..." Indeed, the newcomer was wearing a stylized Mizuho dress with the sides of the skirt splitting from her hips, covered by a thin kimono style jacket. Her clothes were shades of red and orange, and she boasted a strange crest on the front of her jacket-a circle with a triangle inside, with a pair of wings wrapping around it and a swallow's kitetail beneath the wings.

"Oh, Hi. Good to see you again." Yuki stated, walking forward to shake hands with the woman. The only one who wasn't confused by the statement was Sheena-being Mizuhoen, she caught the gist that the woman's name was translated to 'Fire', and not a pronoun referring to a guy.

"Yuki. A pleasure." Hi nodded, before turning to the others as a swirl of sapphire flames appeared, and a rather robustly built man with a HUGE broadsword in hand appeared beside Hi, a pair of sapphire wings arching from his back.

Eyes scanning the crowd, he spotted the rather startled Zelos and the sullen Colette. "Ah, so you two are the Delta-ARCH that my partner was mentioning." He stated, deep voice cheerful. "Let's all give our haiiro Beta-ARCH a fight to remember!!"

"Hey, Sheena?" Zelos poked the kunoichi in the shoulder. "What does haiiro translate to?"

"Grey. This guy must mean Lloyd..." Sheena replied, sighing when she remembered that the aforementioned angel was evil; why did all of the hot guys have to be evil?! Zelos nodded grimly in agreement, eyeing Watsu's sword with considerable unease.

"I don't mean to burst your bubble, Watsu," hi stated suddenly, bringing out her glasses, "but I have our ARCH's data on here, and he was clearly holding back against us, only letting loose when he obliterated the Renegade base with a single attack, even if it did drain the majority of his mana." The seven friends and the other four Gamma-ARCH all froze; Lloyd had blown up the Renegade base with a single attack?!

"Oh really?" Watsu asked, curious. "Bah, don't read the data off until Team Seiryuu can hear it as well." Clapping a hand onto the woman's shoulder, the emerald haired ARCH lead the way into the Gamma-ARCH headquarters, an immense building built directly into the cliff face behind the Temple of Lightning.

Upon entering, the six friends gasped in awe at all of the strange sights and objects inside the place; Raine practically shrieked from joy and promptly fainted from delight, making the six Gamma-ARCH sweatdrop and Genius groan in annoyance.

"Why am I not surprised...?" he asked himself.

"Oh dear, can't have fainting inside the building, no dah." A casual male voice sounded in the air as a youth with an immense boomerang attached to his back, spectral aqua wings flapping behind him. "Especially not when Haru and Father Michelangelo wish to speak with all of you, no dah." Casting a healing spell, the youth looked up at the others, smiling. "Ah, Yuki-kun, Aki-kun, Watsu-kun, Fuyu-chan, Chi-chan, and R-Hi-chan!! Good to see you all back safe and sound, no dah?"

"Hello Kaze." Hi sighed, shaking her head. Raine chose the moment to regain consciousness, and as her eyes settled on the auburn woman holding her head in a hand and sighing she mistook her once more for her former ally.

"Where did Kratos come from?" She asked, pointing at Hi, who anime-dropped in annoyance.

"That's the SECOND time she's called me my brother!!" She exclaimed, standing. "How many—" Suddenly realizing what she had said, Hi clapped both hands over her mouth and flushed; she normally didn't let that slip!!! The seven friends were staring at her in shock.

"You...Kratos..." Regal got out, unconsciously shivering.

"Kratos-sama is Hi-chan's little brother, no dah!" Kaze popped up between the martial artist and a startled Colette, smiling broadly. Hi leveled a deadly glare at the aqua haired youth.

"KAZE!!!" She yelled, vermilion wings flashing into existence. "I prefer it when you DON'T announce it to the world!!!" Her violet eyes flashed, and her version of the dreaded 'Aurion-glare ™' seemed to completely fly past the younger ARCH.

"Too late for that, Hi." A new, low female voice whispered, and the others turned to see a woman with hair the color of sapphire stones alight from within walk out of a nearby room, her pale emerald dress barely brushing the floor. "You might as well tell them." The other seven ARCH turned and bowed at the waist when the younger woman appeared.

"Haru-dono." They whispered, and Sheena quickly followed suit of the ARCH and bowed; if they attached 'dono' to this woman's name, she obviously held a lot of status in the ARCHs' eyes. Haru shook her head.

"No, young summoner, do not bow." She walked forward and tilted the summoner's head up with a hand. "I have no true power over you, nor them." She looked over at the seven Gamma-ARCH with a sigh. "They do that no matter what I do to discourage them..." Kaze looked up with a smile.

"But you are the sole remainder of the Balacruf Dynasty, Haru-dono, no dah!!" It seemed that the aqua haired youth could be blunt with his partner, who seemed to not mind him calling her dono nor his addition of 'no dah' to his sentences. Raine took one look at the taller ARCH and gasped.

"A Balacruf princess...sapphire hair...OHHH!!" Face glowing, the half-elf promptly fainted again, twitching from the sheer strength of her Ruin-mode upon meeting the Sapphire Wind princess of the Balacruf people. The others, although they understood the meaning of what Haru's heritage meant, were more awed with the way the ARCH handled herself. Even without her birthright, she still held the air of a princess.

"Tell them, Hi." Haru stated again, glancing over at the auburn, who stood with a sigh.

"Alright then." Looking at the seven friends, she sighed. "Ember." Casting the fire spell beneath Raine-which successfully woke the woman up- she drew a breath. "Like Kaze stated, Kratos Aurion is my younger brother. I am 4,031 to his 4,028."

"That makes Lloyd your nephew, right?" Genius piped up, awed. When Hi nodded, he added on, "Hi Aurion really doesn't sound right."

"Hi is a code name that I use so Yggdrasil can't recruit me into Cruxis." Hi explained, shaking her head lightly. "My real name is Rose. But before I forget..." pulling out her spectral glasses-which Raine realized were made out of manipulated mana-she muttered, "you better know what exactly we're up against in terms of my nephew."

"I see; you do have his stats recorded, don't you?" Haru spoke up, gold eyes questioning. Hi nodded.

"Let's see..." She muttered chewing her lip. "Lloyd Aurion. Age; eighteen, mana; ..."she shook her head. "I honestly don't know; when he's fighting, it shows up as a prismatic shade, but his wings and aura are both dove grey."

"That is interesting; Father Michelangelo will be surprised to hear that, no dah." Kaze interjected, nodding. Watsu lightly cuffed him upside the head to quiet him as Hi continued on.

"Weapon; Aether blades, attack element; raw Aether, defensive status; both light and aether do absolutely nothing, and fire heals him. Mana level...is off the charts!" Hi suddenly seemed to stumble, her glasses retracting back into her communicator. "No wonder he can destroy a building full of magi-technology with a single burst of raw power..."

"So it seems." Haru whispered, looking up at the stained glass dome that formed the ceiling, which showed a prismatic ten sided star surrounded by a tortoise, a dragon, a phoenix and a tiger. Sheena followed her gaze, and then looked at the eight Gamma-ARCH, snapping her fingers.

"I thought so!" She exclaimed, looking the angels over. "The name of your teams, your names, the window..." she pointed upwards at the stained glass dome, "You worship Koenma and the four Guardian gods, don't you?" She inquired, getting a startled look from half of the eight ARCH and all of her friends, a grin from Aki, a nod from Haru, and a clap on the back from Kaze.

"Not surprising, coming from a kunoichi of Mizuho!" The aqua haired youth exclaimed, smiling brightly. "Haru-dono and I represent Seiryuu, Azure Dragon god, no dah!!" Pointing at Hi and Watsu, he continued. "Rose-chan and Watsu-kun serve Suzaku, Yuki-kun and Fuyu-chan represent Genbu, and Aki an Chi worship Byakko!" Finished, the cheerful ARCH let his aqua wings blink into existence.

"It's not just me." Hi added on, crossing her arms over her chest. "My entire family pays respects to Suzaku, even my nephew." She grinned when she saw the shocked looks of the others. "It's in the Aurion bloodline; why else do you think Lloyd has moves like Rising Falcon and Rising Phoenix?"

"But anyways..." Haru's calm voice commanded attention, even if the ARCH didn't demand it consciously. When the seven friends looked at her, the sapphire haired Balacruf maiden continued, "I can safely assume you all wish to know that while the eight of us possess emotions, your friend does not." Seeing the others nod, Haru drew a breath. "I shall explain then."

"Back During the Kharlan War, as you know humans and elves went against one another in combat with the half-elves between them, and Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals were first put into use. Back then, there were three methods for the three races to become angels.

"First is the Delta transformation, which is what the Chosen of Mana goes through upon releasing the seals. This involves the loss of one's humanity for a brief period of time in order to strengthen one's body and internal organs for a eternal existence. After about a year, however, the Chosen would regain their humanity back unless a Rune Crest was attached to the Cruxis Crystal. This was the most common form of the angelic transformation.

"Next is the Beta transformation, which was used mainly on orphans from ten years of age to twenty one to form assassins. Not only does this transformation prove to be the most painful of the three, it also causes great stress on the internal organs of the person. These were the ones that established the title of ARCH, which stands for 'Artificially Reinforced Combatant Humanoids'. However, due to the strength that an ARCH needs to possess in order to keep its heart from failing, they are often fused with their Exsphere or Cruxis Crystal. It's in this way that the person's emotions are destroyed.

"And finally, there is the Gamma transformation." Haru closed her eyes suddenly, then opened them partially to gaze at the others, an earthreal light dancing in her azure eyes. "This transformation is better known as Ascension, and we were known as Archangels." A collective gasp ran through the group, with only Colette obtaining the will to speak immediately after.

"You mean, you were all killed at some point?" She whispered. Hi nodded.

"The fight that I died in was also the fight were Kratos got his left arm crippled." She stated, getting confused looks from everyone else present. "Have you ever seen him clench his left hand into or fist, or seen him with it perfectly flat?"

"...No..." Raine admitted, puzzled.

"That's because his left tendon was severed and not completely healed in time. Before then, he was a twin swordsman like Lloyd."

"That is interesting and all, but I'm sure that telling us that was slightly unnecessary..." Yuki muttered. Haru shook her head.

"Nonetheless, not all of us died to go through the Gamma transformation; only Aki and Hi, if I remember correctly." When the two mentioned nodded, she continued on, "But we did have to go through a epithermal experience. That however, is a story that we shall not tell you as of right now. You need to begin training..."

"NO." the single word that left Colette's mouth startled the others into looking at the blond angel, who looked furious. Her sapphire eyes were narrowed, and a firm line was formed out of her mouth. "I refuse to fight Lloyd." She stated firmly, shaking her head.

"Colette," Raine began, trying to reason with the blond. "None of us want to fight him but we..."

"No." Colette shook her head, a trace of venom in her voice. "I won't."

"Come on Colette, this is not time to be stubborn!" Genius stated just as firmly, aiding his older sister. "I mean, I thought you'd be the one most after him! He hurt you the most!!"

"What'm I then, chopped liver?" Zelos muttered, getting a swift kick from Regal and Sheena.

"Now is not the time." Both hissed as Colette shook her head again.

"Why not?!" Genius finally demanded, exasperated.

"BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!" Colette blurted out, tears in her eyes. The fifteen around her stared openly, but she didn't seem to mind. Unable to stand it any longer, the blond angel turned and ran outside of the building, sobbing.

--

Sitting on the edge of the sea, Colette sniffled and rubbed her eyes when a pair of footsteps reached her ears. Not bothering to turn around, she simply wrapped her arms around her knees, staring out at the blue ocean before her as it turned a bloody red in the light of the setting sun.

"...I had to fight a loved one, once." Hi's voice made her turn ever so slightly. The violet eyed Aurion sat beside the blond, legs hanging over the edge as she continued, "One of my closest friends underwent the Beta transformation. We didn't know at the time that his employer held a grudge against the Aurion family. One day, he was sent to kill me and Kratos, because we were fighting against the rest of the employer's men."

"What happened?" Colette asked, looking over at the older angel. Hi sighed sadly, eyes distant.

"I was traumatized that we had to fight him; if Kratos hadn't been injured by him, I probably wouldn't have fought him. So I took my chakrams and began attacking him, trying to defend my brother while our younger sister Sakura tended to his arm. In the end however, I ended up killing myself as well as my friend."

"Is that how..." Colette whispered, floored. Hi nodded.

"Yes. While waiting to enter the afterlife, my friend's soul thanked me for killing him; he said that he couldn't bear to think of what would've happened if he had killed me. As Kratos put it later, when I came back as an Archangel, that I 'killed him out of love, not out of hatred.' I believed him, and all...oh my...I didn't mean to make you cry again!" Hi exclaimed, seeing Colette bury her head in her arms with a sob.

Shaking her head, the auburn wrapped her arms around the blond's shoulders. "Hush...Hush..." She comforted the distressed angel, tears bright in her own eyes as well. "It'll be okay...don't worry...Just cry, you're in need of a good long cry..."

"Do you think...that Lloyd would be like that as well?" Colette choked out after some time had passed. "Would he agree that I fought him because I...love him?"

"I'm sure he would." Hi assured her, rubbing her back like the big sister that she was, even if it wasn't Colette's big sister. When the blond angel pulled away and rubbed her eyes, she asked gently, "So, are you up to training now?" Colette nodded mutely, standing up. Hi stood and hugged her around the shoulders again, leading the younger angel inside.

Neither noticed the figure hidden in shadows, a hand covering their eyes as they wept silently.

--

The eight friends looked amongst themselves as Haru led them upstairs the next day, silent as they looked around themselves at the simple spectacle of the place as Haru opened the double doors on a landing before them.

"Father Michelangelo is waiting inside for you right now." The angel spoke up, stepping aside. "He's been paitent, but I think he's anxious, for obvious reasons..." As the eight walked past her, Haru looked out a window in time to see a flash of color in the sunlight. Blinking, the Archangel shook her head and walked downstairs to gather the other eight Archangels; training would begin after the friends' meeting with Father Michelangelo was through.

The eight friends stood in the center of a circular room, eyes glancing around at the vast size of the place around them. Shaped similar to the Martel Temple by Iselia, there were only four immense stained glass windows, one north, one south, one east, and one west. The glass mosaics formed a tortoise ensnared by a serpent, a elegant phoenix, a serpentine azure colored dragon, and a snow white tiger in their respective windows.

"I'm shocked, there isn't a thing in here that pertains to Martel." Presea spoke up first, voice filled with awe. The others all nodded, too awestruck to respond as the rising sun poured into the windows, showering rainbows of light upon the friends.

"That is because Martel isn't the Goddess that Cruxis makes her out to be; and besides, the ARCH were formed before Martel was even born." An all too familiar voice made the eight whirl around as one, and when they saw who had spoken, their jaws hit the floor in shock.

"...It can't be..."

* * *

_**Li:**__ There, that should hold you for a while...I hope you enjoyed this, even if it was a little bit more __angsty__ than the other cycles. And so far, only two people have figured out who Father Michelangelo is..._

_Review, pleases!!_


	8. Cycle 8

Well, I didn't mean to update this quite so fast, but I REALLY want to see how you guys are gonna react when I finish this fic-I've only got this chapter (Which isn't all that exciting), a couple focused on the training, the confrontation with Mithos (Which might take up two to four chapters), and what happens after that left! Then ARCH shall be finished!! -is shocked- Amazing...this might be the first multi-chaptered fic that I have finished...Go me!! Whoo!! 

**Hi:** oh, and before I forget…the 'strange crest' that I have on my jacket is the Aurion family crest. Just thought I'd clear that up.

I do not own Tales of Symphonia!

Cycle eight

* * *

"Hmm...? Now what is this?" The man asked himself, an eyebrow raised as he read a portion of his book in silence. "Oh, that's interesting...now I can use this to my advantage..." A soft smirk decorated the man's features as he continued to read, completely absorbed. 

---

(Gamma-ARCH base...)

"It can't be..." everyone present felt the breath in their chest leave as an all too familiar cobalt seraphim stepped out from the shadows of a nearby pillar, a smug smile on his face. His old outfit had been discarded, and an outfit of dark blue and black took its place. A deep midnight violet cape hung from his shoulders, the golden star and sapphire cross insignia of the Archangels in the center of the cloth.

Stopping in front of the seven friends, Yuan Kuroraion raised his eyebrows as the others all stared at him in shock.

"If it's not me, then who else could it be?" The cobalt asked, deep green eyes curious. His statement seemed to get a reaction out of Sheena.

"But...Hi said that Lloyd destroyed the Renegade base in Sylvarant!" She exclaimed, shocked. "How...how did you make it out of there?"

"Sheer luck." Yuan admitted before brushing some of his hair out of his face to show a thin cross shaped scar near his eye. "If I had stayed longer than I had, the Prsima Cannon attack would've roasted me, like it did to my men." Growing somber for a minute, Yuan let his hair fall back into his face as the seven friends stared at him apologetically.

"But, are you the leader of _both_ the Renegades and the Gamma-ARCH?" Presea asked, curious. Yuan shook his head.

"The Archangels have no leader apart form themselves; they just call me Father Michelangelo-which I honestly wished they would stop doing- in order to keep Yggdrasil from figuring out who they get the majority of their information from. I am, as you could put it, an informant."

"So the Archangels rely on your being a member of Cruxis to gather information...but for what cause?" Raine inquired, trying to figure out what the cobalt Seraph was up to.

"The eight Archangels are currently concerned with destroying any and all references to the Beta-ARCH form of angelic transformation, stating that too many lives have been destroyed by it." Shaking his head, he added, "Unfortunately, it seems that I couldn't track down the book that Yggdrasil used to turn your friend into a Beta-ARCH in time, and now I can't sense it."

"How can you sense a book?" Genius asked, speaking up timidly.

"The books that contain the information on the Beta-ARCH transformation are designed and made out of solidified mana." Yuan explained bluntly, earning soft gasps. "Each book has a distinct mana signature, and the one that Yggdrasil used has vanished, as I should say."

"Couldn't Yggdrasil have destroyed the book himself?" Sheena asked. Yuan shook his head.

"To Yggdrasil, something like that would be too valuable to destroy; he most likely plans on creating more Beta-ARCH in the future." The cobalt sighed heavily. "He plans on waiting for a while, mainly to see how long the rest of you can go without Lloyd on your side. That will give us some time to prepare for what's going to come."

Eyeing the seven, Yuan decided to be blunt about it. "Even all eight of the Archangels working together could barely manage to destroy the Renegade base in Sylvarant, mainly due to the fact that the magitechnology interferes with mana surges. Lloyd destroyed it with a single attack, and he had been using a lot of mana in his fight with team Suzaku before that." Eyes narrowing, he continued, "If you go to fight Yggdrasil as you are right now, and he sends Lloyd out to kill you…you would be dead before you even blinked."

"In short, Lloyd has been holding back against us, big time."

"Impossible!" Raine retorted, crossing her arms. "Lloyd has the same amount of mana as an average human, because he—"

"In case you have forgotten, Kratos is a Seraphim of Cruxis." Yuan cut in sternly. "As such, he has a higher mana count than most humans, and he came across that power through transformation, making the angelic blood in his veins dominant.

"Now, think genetics. Angelic blood is the dominant over human blood, and Lloyd naturally has a stronger amount of mana than the average human-that's mainly due to the fact that his mother was a test experiment in the Angelus Project, which very few humans can survive." His eyes drifted to the now silent Presea, whose mouth was wide open.

"Because of that, Lloyd's mana was increased before he was even born." Yuan took time to memorize the looks of shock on the friends' faces-this was priceless-whilst keeping a blank face and continuing with his explanation. "Add onto that the amount of mana that Kratos possesses as a Seraph; he passed that on to Lloyd."

"Furthurmore, unlike the rest of the angels, Lloyd didn't have to necessarily go through an angelic transformation to use his angelic abilities-they are hardwired into his mind from birth. How else would he be able to jump off of a fifty-foot high cliff and not hurt himself, or survive a fall from the same height and merely be unconscious at the age of three?"

"…" Nobody could come up with a response.

"And…" Yuan paused, wondering best how to phrase his next statement. "And seeing as how it is genetic, and not gained through a transformation, Lloyd's angelic powers dwarf even Yggdrasil's in terms of raw strength and ability; Mithos and the Archangels just so happen to have four thousand years of experience. If Lloyd lasted for about that same amount of time, he would be unstoppable. That's part of the reason why Yggdrasil keeps him in Welgaia and away from combat; he doesn't want Lloyd to unlock his genetic potential."

"In short, even with the seven of you, the eight Archangels, and myself all teaming up to fight a fully awakened Lloyd, we would still most likely end up with our asses getting beating big time, and victory would be about this slim of a chance." To emphasize what he meant by 'slim', the Seraph held up a single strand of hair. Zelos visibly gulped.

"But you said Lloyd didn't have his full potential unlocked yet." Regal pointed out. "So could the lot of us still stand against him and win?"

"You'd have a snowball's chance in Hell at that." Yuan said, even more bluntly than before. "Lloyd has just begun to unlock his potential; I was at Welgaia when he became a member of Cruxis, and there was a battle between your friend and a rather troublesome demon. The thing was a level nine class demon-the strongest out there- and he decimated it in TWO attacks."

That stunned the others, and their jaws hit the floor. Yuan bit back a smile and added, "Never mind the fact that Aether is almost impossible to use to its full capacity, which Lloyd seems to have no problem in doing from what Hi told me about his mana."

"And that was?" Zelos asked, curious.

"She told me that he can manipulate the light and colors of his aura in order to mask it and keep people like Yggdrasil from exploiting his strength." Green eyes scanned the room as he spoke, voice soft. "But as for why he is doing that, I have no honest clue; no Beta-ARCH has ever had emotions before…"

"This has been bugging me for a while…" Colette stepped forward timidly. "but what exactly is this Aether?"

"Aether is said to be a mythological element that is made up of time and space; in other words, the element that Origin is the most connected with." Raine answered, looking to see if she was right. When Yuan nodded, she went on, "It's said to be impossible for anyone apart from Origin to use fully, and all living things have some subconscious control over Aether, as it is what gives us the ability to think."

"If humans aren't supposed to used it, how come Lloyd can use it with little effort?" Zelos retorted, nervous. Yuan spoke up before Raine did.

"Once again, Kratos." Seeing the confused looks he was getting, the cobalt sighed. "The seal on Origin is based on Kratos' mana. Four thousand years is a long time for a seal to remain in tact perfectly, as you saw in the case of Shadow. Over time, a bit of Origin's mana leaked over and blended with Kratos'. Not enough to change his mana, but enough to make a mess out of Lloyd's."

"So Lloyd's basically got a faint strand of Origin's mana in him?!" Raine, suddenly excited, began to fall into her Ruin-mode. "Fascinating!!"

"I'd agree, but that same person could easily turn us all into ruins ourselves, Raine." Zelos cut in. "Would you like to study ourselves before we even save the worlds?" Catching his drift, the half-elf quickly deflated. Yuan bit back another laugh at the dejected look on the woman's face; it looked too damn cute.

'No, bad Yuan, you have Martel!' He scolded himself, and then coughed into his arm. "I'd prefer not to kill Lloyd if at all possible, Raine." Yuan stated, struggling to keep his voice even. "And that includes you killing him and trying to dissect him, which I believe would be a bit of a downfall for you; his insides are still mostly human, because all angels had some human in them."

Colette, who had fallen silent again, suddenly spoke once more. "But why…Why would Lloyd hold back against us? He doesn't have any more emotions, right?" It hurt to admit that, but it was sadly the truth of the matter, it seemed. Yuan shrugged.

"I honestly don't know." He admitted, shaking his head before he remembered something. "Another thing-both Hi and Yuki have stated that they've seen odd runes on Lloyd's left hand where his Exsphere was. There's never been an ARCH that has had those before." Sighing, he finished, "I wasn't born yesterday, but even I haven't seen such things before…

"But I think that should answer all of your questions, correct?" The seven nodded slowly. "very well then. You'll start training with the Archangels in an hour or so. They will be training you for a week. Regal will be training under Fuyu, Raine will be with Yuki, Sheena and Aki, Presea and Chi, Genius and Haru, Colette and Hi, and Zelos with Watsu. Kaze shall drift around and help all of you as you need it." Just as he was about to turn around, Yuan heard Zelos speak up.

"This might seem totally irrelevant, but what the hell happened to your other outfit?" Yuan didn't turn around, but the group could imagine the annoyed look on his face perfectly.

"Remember what I told you about being lucky to survive Lloyd's Prisma Cannon? I cast Force Field when it turned out I was going to be engulfed by a fringe of it, and the heat managed to scorch my clothes off. If I hadn't cast the Force Field when I did, I would've been toast." With that, he vanished and Kaze opened the door.

"Ah, good to see you all alive, no dah!" He chirped cheerfully. "Breakfast is ready, and you're going to want to eat if you plan on living through the first day alone, no dah." With that, the aqua Archangel vanished, leaving a very nervous group of friends behind.

* * *

Sooo…there you go. A transition chapter without too much action. 

As for the thing about genetics and Lloyd's power being greater because he had angelic mana in him from birth, I'm so sorry if that got confusing, it just made sense to me…And it would work in theory….

Next chapter starts the week of training with the Archangels!! What sort of thing shall everyone learn? I've decided to cover the training in three chapters; the first one will focus on Raine, Genius, Zelos, and Presea, with the second cycle focusing on the last three. The final cycle to cover the training will focus on all of them in a lesson from Kaze.

And just out of curiosity, should I give the gang a costume change to show their awesome kick-assness? And should I have Regal finally ditch those shackles-some of the moves he's going to learn from Fuyu would be impossible to do while wearing those…please let me know in a review.

Sayoonara, and REVIEW!!

-Li-chan0767, signing off


	9. Cycle 9

_And here is the first chapter focused on training for the friends!! Let's go-and I've kinda changed how things are going to go-simply a general overview this chapter and more in-depth next chapter.  
__And since I got a couple reviews about this...YUAN HAD SPARE CLOTHES ON HAND!!! HE WAS NOT STREAKING DANGIT!!!  
__**Yuan:**__ besides, the angels were gone and everyone else was dead (Inner Yuan-TT.TT WHY!?). Not like anyone would see._

_Right. But anyway-yawn- I do not own ToS_

_Cycle Nine

* * *

_

The seven friends all looked around the training area in shock; how the heck did they manage to fit a room the size of the entire city of Exire into a building no bigger than the Lezareno Co building?! Scattered all over the place were targets, deep pits in the earth from where it had been blown away, scorch marks covered the walls, gouges from wind based attacks covered the place, and a couple of brick walls that stood on their own.

"KAA!!!" Without a second's notice, a flare of pale blue and pink mana showed, and Fuyu's fist broke through the center of the nearest brick wall. A small shell of mana covered her fist, and when she withdrew it, the wall didn't collapse. Not breaking stride, the martial artist snapped out a high kick, mana covering her feet as well. "ANYAA!!!" Knocking off a few bricks of the wall, the Archangel spun around on a single foot and spotted the others-including an incredibly pale Regal. Grinning, she walked over.

"What'cya so scared for?" She asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow. "After four thousand years of dedicating yourself to this sort of thing, you'd get that good as well!" Gripping Regal's wrist, she dragged him off to a corner of the area, her comment of "If you keep wearing those shackles you're going to fall flat on your face all week." barely audible.

Regal's face seemed to be stuck in a shocked expression, and he didn't resist.

"Okay then, I'd say Regal has to be careful with Fuyu teaching him..." Zelos commented after he was certain the Archangel couldn't hear. "She might just break a couple bones, that psycho..."

"Only if your friend gets careless!!" Fuyu responded, making the others jump. "And I should say the same to you; Watsu's crazier than I am!!"

'Someone kill me now. Please?' Zelos begged mentally as the named Archangel approached him. Gulping, he realized that the guy was around six and a half feet tall, and about as wide at the waist as his sword.

"What're you waiting for?" Watsu asked, laughing. Zelos nearly passed out. "We're over this way, pal, so let's get to work!!"

"Okay..." Not wanting to be hauled over like Regal had, the redhead quickly trotted over to where Watsu had pointed, the emerald haired Archangel laughing as he followed.

Aki and Chi wandered over at the same time, and they stopped right in front of the group. Shocked to find that Aki was blind, everyone stared. Finally, the flame haired angel spoke up.

"The girl that smells of a rice field after a thunderstorm." He spoke gruffly, an underlying tone of caution in his voice as he pointed directly at Sheena. "Chi says I'm working with you. _Soudesuka? _(Japanese for is that right?)"

"H...hai." Sheena replied, following the feral Archangel as he led her to a reclusive corner of the area, almost on the opposite end of the area where Fuyu and Regal were at-Sheena suspected that Aki didn't like being near the hyperactive martial artist either.

Presea and Chi briefly looked at one another before they both headed for an area with a wide open space surrounded by high walls, not a word passing between them. As the heads of orange and pink vanished, Yuki strode over, Hi and Haru in his wake. The raven-haired youth smiled lightly, leaning on his staff as Raine looked warily at him.

"Don't worry, I'm one of the sane members of the group." He assured her, smiling crookedly. A brief flare of twin colored mana shot towards Yuki, only to fall short a foot away from him. "Give it up Fuyu. Four thousand years have passed and you still can't get the drop on me!" Yuki yelled over his shoulder, his crooked grin even wider. Raine sighed as she followed the youth towards an area without practice dummies, brick walls or punching bags.

Genius looked up timidly at Haru, his elven blood sensing the vast amount of elemental strength that the Balacruf maiden possessed. While most of it was bound to be wind based, it still stunned him. Smiling lightly, Haru's azure eyes lightly took in the younger Sage sibling, swirling around and leading him to an area that positively radiated of mana.

Hi smiled lightly at Colette, her immense chakrams strapped to her back. "Like we didn't see this coming, ne?" She joked, earning a giggle from the younger angel. "Now then, let's go." Walking Colette over to the last remaining empty space, stating calmly, "And feel free to call me Rose; that's what I was named originally."

--

By the end of the day, all seven of the friends were worn and tired as they headed for supper. All of them sported bruises or cuts of some sort, and nobody was truly up to talking. Afterwards, they all collapsed in the lounge room. Zelos moaned.

"I take that back; Watsu is INSANE. Fuyu is just a violent person with anger management issues! They all are." He rolled over onto his side, wincing when his sore sword arm was bumped. There were several noises of agreement, and the redhead looked his allies over.

Raine-small manageable cuts, nothing too serious.

Sheena-Barely bruised, mainly from whacking into stuff while her eyes were closed.

Presea-long shallow gashes from getting hit with an axe blade one time too many.

Genius-practically unhurt, just worn out from mana usage.

Colette-small punctures, long cuts and a bruise on her head (From tripping into one of Hi's attacks)

Regal-Perhaps the worst of them, with several bruises and no cuts, but he certainly wasn't all intact.

Unable to resist, Zelos joked, "So, Fuyu being a bit rough?"

"Nnngg..." Shooting a rather venomous glare at the Chosen, Regal proceeded to rub his head with a hand. Zelos stared; not both hands, but one...

"What happened to your shackles?" He asked, catching the interest of the others around. Indeed, although the ex-convicts shackles were still on his wrists, they were no longer connected. Looking at his friends, Regal shrugged.

"Fuyu snapped them in half." He said casually, ignoring the large bruise on his wrist. "I'm glad though; half of the stances that I'm being taught would have me falling flat on my face if my hands were still shackled together."

Letting out a huge yawn, Sheena commented, "Listen, shouldn't we all be asleep? We've got to go through similar stuff again tomorrow, and I don't want to fall asleep in the middle of it, personally."

"She's right there; let's get some rest." Raine stood with a sigh, using her staff much like a crutch to lean on as she headed into her room. The others dispersed shortly after.

--

(Welgaia)

The loud noise of explosions drew Kratos' attention as he flew around the heavenly city, startling him briefly. Flying over to where the noises were strongest, he stopped a good distance away and watched his son mercilessly tear through whatever came at him.

It was only by a trick of the light that the Seraph saw the tear streaks on his son's supposedly emotionless face, signs that he had been crying excessively sometime recently.

But what could he cry over?

* * *

_3 AM and still doing fine! XD _

_Yeah, not much in this chapter...I'll go into detail about what each group member's going through for the next chapter; just wanted to give the first reactions. Sorry it's so short. X Forgive me!!!_

_And thanks goes to killerbunbun for the idea of Fuyu breaking Regal's shackles! He won't be fighting with his hands though. Plus the costume change is a go! _

_Review!!! Please? _


	10. Cycle 10

_**And here we go. The tenth cycle of ARCH. Wow...I didn't think I'd get here so fast! O-O Thank you to all of the faithful people reading this!!! I hope I don't disappoint!!**_

_**And this is where I go a bit more in-depth about what the gang's learning...First up is Sheena, simply because I know how I want the scene to flow; the rest shall come as I go.**_

_**I do not own ToS!! I do own the Archangels tho!!**_

_Cycle Ten

* * *

_

As time passed and the seven friends grew used to the training the Archangels put them through and why they chose that style of training. By focusing on the group's weaknesses instead of their strengths, the seven angels gave them a bit more of a chance, for they all knew that they would need to fight Lloyd at some point in their journey, never mind Yggdrasil.

* * *

_Sheena_

The young kunoichi shifted slightly, her eyes closed and hidden behind a blindfold. Aki's training not only consisted of long range elemental seals but also on relying on ALL her senses, and not just her eyes. Having been blind since birth, the Archangel had learned to use his ears and his nose to identify where things were and if they were safe or not. Currently, he was standing in front of a shadow replica of a tree-something he summoned, along with eight others, and was telling her to attack the tree she thought he was at with a long ranged seal.

"Stand still." Aki spoke, voice never losing its gruffness. Assuming that it was a side effect from living in shadows, she never questioned his tone and simply got used to it. "Don't rely on me attacking-focus solely on the sounds and the direction they're coming from."

'Easier said than done.' Sheena thought to herself, relaxing her muscles and listening for where the archangel was at. It took a minute or so for her ears to pick up the faint shuffle of Aki's feet on the ground. 'He's behind me and a bit to the right...' Pulling out a card, she focused her mana on where her instructor was. 'Fire style! Exploding flame pillar!!'

Aki smirked when he felt the earth rumble beneath his feet. Leaping up and away just as the towering pillar of Efreet's hellfire shot up where he was standing. 'She's getting better-that's good...'

"Nice job, now try and get me again!" He hollered, jumping over Sheena's head to land in front of another tree.

Around a half hour later and eight long ranged seals later, Aki and Sheena sat in the center of the circle, the kunoichi removing her blindfold. Looking around, she saw that each seal was beside a tree, and they were all in the order that she had cast them. Fire, thunder, ice, earth, water, wind, light, and then dark. Looking at a grinning Aki, she asked tentatively, "So...Did I get it right?"

"If you had been attacking someone around the skill level of...oh, say Pronyma, you would've nailed her dead on every single time." Aki replied casually, pulling out his scroll to dispel his shadow trees. "But seeing as how I'm not Pronyma, the fact that you missed hitting me is understandable; I've had four thousand years to learn how to fight without using my eyes."

"Yatta!!" Sheena knew what he meant; she'd at least gotten the direction he was at right!! Suddenly remembering something that had bugged her for a while, she looked back at Aki. "Hey, just out of curiosity, why didn't you use one of those attack element spells on me?"

"Because as a summoner, you will be able to use all of the elements to attack, including Aether. But not as potentially as your friend Lloyd."Aki explained, replacing his scroll to its position on his back. "The others aren't like you in that aspect, so it was a really unnecessary exercise." Standing, Aki continued, "Blindfold back in place, gaki, let's see if you can block attacks without seeing where they're coming from!"

* * *

_Regal_

The martial artist ducked beneath the flying fist before leaning on both hands and performing a leg sweep. Fuyu leapt back and struck out with a low kick, which Regal dodged by rolling backwards. Standing up, he ran forward and snapped out a high side kick, which was deflected by a hand sweep from the turquoise haired Archangel. Undeterred, he went down on his hands and aimed for her neck with a high kick, which was dodged.

The sparring sessions between Fuyu and Regal typically ran along these same lines daily; both of them would try to land as many blows on one another as possible before time was up. It was tiring, but the exercise was well aimed for the ex-convict.

Leaning back back as Fuyu aimed a palm thrust at his nose, Regal leaned on one hand and his other leg while lashing out with his opposite one. He was truly grateful that the Archangel didn't question his reluctance to learn hand attacks, but she had insisted on teaching him some blocks-he would be hard pressed to block some attacks with his legs.

Suddenly cupping her hand as Regal's foot came near her leg, Fuyu channeled some of her mana into a buffer, knocking the attack aside harmlessly and sprawling Regal onto his back. "Nice aim, and you've got decent timing." The winter angel grinned recklessly, offering Regal a hand back up. When the taller man was standing again, she cracked her neck before speaking again. "Now if you could learn to channel that lightning mana of yours into your kicks, it would be harsh for whoever got hit by one."

Regal rubbed his arm absently with his opposite hand while listening, really grateful that he no longer had the handicap of his hands being attached at the wrists. With half of the attacks that he had seen Fuyu use, and with the blocks-including the Mana Buffer, which he found rather effective-he realized that even steady training wouldn't've helped him with keeping his balance whilst executing them.

"But unfortunately, you wouldn't be able to store it for long..." Fuyu muttered, looking at the braces on her wrists and ankles as she continued. "You'd have to get the kick out right away, or you might hurt yourself with the stored mana."

"Is that why you wear those braces?" Regal asked, looking at the bands of metal. Fuyu shrugged.

"Partially; the other reason is because I might just break my wrist or ankle if I don't wear them. My body's only human, after all. Four thousand years doesn't change how strong your bones are, or how much weight you can withstand before passing out." Slipping back into her fighting stance, she smirked. "C'mon. Let's see how well you can use that Mana Buffer with that mana of yours!!"

* * *

_Presea_

Huffing as she stood, Presea prepared herself for the next one of Chi's lightning fast attacks, her mana in the ground ready to shoot up a defensive wall at a split second's notice. It was her speed that the Archangel was focusing on, stating that her power and defenses were good enough for right now, and if she could boost her speed enough, she could be a real pain to fight with.

There! Out of the corner of her eye, the blur of gold and orange and bronze that was a charging Chi appeared. Swinging around so that her axe was in a parry position, she sent a bit of her mana before her, making the earth crack unevenly as the Archangel approached.

With the terrain becoming rather uneven, Chi found herself having to slow down before approaching Presea, swinging her axe directly at the pinkette. The sound of two axe blades meeting in mid-air echoed through the area as Presea used her nearly inhuman strength to push the older girl backwards. Smiling, Chi detangled her double headed axe and sung it at Presea's head.

If this sort of thing had happened at the beginning of the week, Presea would've had a nasty blow on her next. Instead, she was able to duck just in time, ramming the butt of her axe into Chi's gut. The unexpected blow had the desired effect, as it sent the orange haired angel backwards a couple of feet.

"Nice." Chi admitted, leaning against her weapon. "Mana manipulation and surprise attacks. That's not a typical strategy by any means, unless you happen to be a shinobi of Mizuho." Slamming her axe into the ground, the Archangel sent a wave of earth and stone right at Presea, who felt her eyes widen as she leapt aside and dodged the blow, performing the same attack with her own weapon, but creating two fissures instead of one. Cutting off Chi on both sides and behind, the pinkette charged at her, relying on her developing speed to help her reach the angel in time.

The blow slashed straight through Chi, who turned into a puff of smoke, the real one appearing behind Presea with a grin on her face. "Nice; hitting one of my shadow clones is rather good for someone of your build." When Presea turned around to look at her, Chi smiled lightly. "Now just focus on keeping your speed regular and soon you'll be a real threat to almost anyone-if I hadn't have had four thousand year to work at my skills, I'd be afraid as well."

* * *

_Zelos_

The red haired Chosen groaned lightly as he dodged away from another one of Watsu's crazed sword blows. Even if he had been revealed as an angel with a knack for fire, he had to admit that the explosive Archangel before him was a tad out of his league.

How many other pyromancers could make sand erupt out of the ground and turn into fire in mid-air!?

Currently the emerald haired angel was standing there grinning at his orange winged companion, who glared at him lightly. "Aw...tired already Zelos-_chan_?" Watsu teased, tilting his head aside as a pillar of fire shot at him. 'Well, he certainly doesn't have to be bugged about using his mana element, that for sure.' He thought, watching the hell pyre attack disintegrate beside him.

"How...the hell does Hi manage to survive working with you!?" Zelos demanded, wondering how someone as level-headed as Kratos' elder sister managed to stand being around the obviously dangerous Watsu. "I thought the Aurion family understood the meaning of personal safety!!"

"Hi's practically immune to fire; it's a plus for her, seeing how she's basically devoted to Suzaku." Watsu stated nonchalantly, swinging out with his sword again. Zelos cursed and flew up and away, sending a small wave of flames at the pyro. "The entire family is, actually; Kratos just seems to be better at controlling it than Hi, and Lloyd doesn't even know where he gets half of his attacks from." Watsu continued, dispersing the flames with a wave of his broadsword.

Zelos sighed as Watsu neared him in the air; he still wasn't used to the insane amount of fire spells that Team Suzaku knew how to use, especially after seeing the brief spar between Watsu and Hi a day ago-he swore that the Aurion family MUST have a streak of insanity in them-just look at how the lot of them acted in a fight!! But that was irrelevant as Watsu thrust his sword directly at the Chosen, who blocked it with the flat of his own blade, not shocked when flares of small orange flames burned between the swords.

Their spars were typically more focused on Zelos learning how to channel mana into the length of his blade, as well as getting his strength a bit farther up than the level it was at now. It went rather well, but the Chosen seemed more focused on NOT becoming a flaming target by the pyromancer's occasional misfire spell of spontaneous combustion.

Manipulating his fire elemented mana wasn't as hard as it appeared, and that was because he had nearly completed the angel transformation, even if he had destroyed the Cruxis Crystal that Yggdrasil had given to him.

He had destroyed it after the encounter with Lloyd at Altessa's place, as the sight of the gentle brunette completely unafraid of attack-possibly killing-his closest friends was enough to wake Zelos up to a fact that he typically ignored; Mithos was beyond insane.

Biting his lip, Zelos realized just how much he had changed since becoming friends with Lloyd. The brunette had made him wake up to the rest of the world, and now with Lloyd being brainwashed by Mithos, the redhead had decided the night after the attack at Altessa's house that he would fight for the _real_ Lloyd's dream of equality, even if it meant killing his best friend.

Hell, if it came to it, it was probably a favor for the younger swordsman; better dead than an unwilling puppet of Yggdrasil.

With that thought in mind, Zelos grinned recklessly and prepared for Watsu's next attack with renewed vigor; anything to help Lloyd's dream would be worth any amount of torture at the hands of a psycho pyro by Zelos' standards.

* * *

_Raine_

Looking in annoyance at the staff in her hand, the silver half-elf tried once again to channel her water mana into a vortex similar to the miniature blizzard she had seen Yuki fire from his staff earlier. The fact that her mana was of the water element was ironic in itself, but Yuki never poked fun about it.

"We need to work on your offensive skills; you've learned almost all of the healing spells in existence." Yuki commented, twirling his staff over in one hand, the looping dragons reflecting the light that hit them. "Although it's true that you can only use light spells, your aquatic mana has several tricks that you can use once you know how to handle it."

So mana manipulation had become the focus of Raine's training, as well as learning a pair of light spells called Aureola and Ivlandi, both of which seemed to do extra damage to demons and undead. She'd also learned how to channel her water based mana into her healing attacks, which seemed to increase their range.

But creating a vortex of water that fired out of her staff was another ball game entirely. Not only was the water harder to master than a solid element such as earth or even fire, but Raine's hydrophobia got in the way.Yuki was patient with it, stating that he really didn't like the cold on all reality.

"But it's the element my mana is most attuned to." He shrugged, smiling gently. "I've learned to work around my discomfort and get used to what I can fight with...even if I really don't like it."

Impressed with what Yuki had told her, Raine began to fight against her fear of water in hopes that even if she didn't like it, she could still use it to her advantage in a battle. Sighing, she began to concentrate her mana in the center of her staff again, the crystal in the center glowing with the aquamarine light of the half-elf's aura.

Yuki watched from a distance, chewing absently on a piece of hair-a bad habit of his that he really couldn't get over. He knew that Raine had the ability to become stronger, but only if she could learn to use her water aura to her advantage. Genius had told him the reasoning behind her fear of water, so he didn't pressure her. But with only a week to learn how to fight in such a manner, and going up against a Beta-ARCH of Lloyd's potential required that Raine be able to fight with all that she had, and not worry about her fears.

Not knowing what the raven haired youth Archangel was thinking, Raine focused on the target right in front of her-she suspected from the fact that it had several stone shards stuck into the cloth that Yuki had filched it from his partner-and unleashed the torrent of water at the thing.

Although small and skinny, the aquatic twister packed enough of a punch to a hole in the cloth head of the dummy. Raine grinned happily to herself; she'd made progress.

* * *

_Genius_

The young half-elf prodigy looked up from his meditation as he watched Haru channel the wind around her into a shield of solid mana. Within the week studying under the Balacruf princess, he could easily tell why she was known as the Sapphire Wind Princess. Not even his Atlas spell had left a scratch in her, but his Earth Bite had only been deflected by the same shield that the Archangel was concentrating on making once again.

Sighing, Genius sunk back into his meditation, trying to ignore the ache in him that had appeared when Mithos had revealed himself as Yggdrasil. The fact that Lloyd had attacked them had only made the pain worse; his best friend of all time had meant to kill them.

Biting his lip, he instead focused on the time when he and Lloyd had been good friends, running around and basically oblivious to the rest of the world-Martel he wanted his old friend back!

Haru had taken his training to focus mainly on casting his spells without his kendama, a challenge that he willingly accepted; if he could keep his hands free while casting magic, he could get out of harm's way even faster than before, even though he doubted that he could dodge one of Lloyd's Prisma Beams if he ever was at the wrong end of one of those.

At first he had only been able to cast the most basic of spells kendama-less, but he had gradually improved. Now only spells like Indignation and Prism Sword were beyond his reach, and he didn't include the spells that Haru had taught him earlier; Excalibur, Forblaze and Bolting.

As if sensing that Genius had his mana under control, Haru came out of her meditation and stood, her azure colored dress barely brushing the ground. The half-elf rushed to his feet beside her, looking up calmly as she smiled.

"Let's try casting Excalibur again, seeing as how it shouldn't be as hard as the other spells to cast without a catalyst." Haru suggested, turning and looking where the magically spelled targets stood, ignoring the scorch marks that covered them, the gaping pits that they practically hovered over the deep gouges from various spells and the deeply embedded shards of rock. Genius nodded and channeled the wind mana that flowed through him, focusing on the targets in front of him and expelled it from his extended hand.

The blades of wind effortlessly tore through the target, and Genius smirked in self-satisfaction.

* * *

_Colette_

The blond spun in mid-air, deflecting one of Rose's immense three foot chakrams before sending a wing whirlwind attack in the auburn's direction.(A/N: Just a reminder, Hi and Rose are the same person; Rose uses Hi as a codename against Yggi) Kratos' older sister smiled lightly and caught the thin metal band, sending it flying backwards.

Colette caught it and began to focus on what Rose had taught her over the week, focusing her light based mana into the metal bands as she caught the Archangel in her sights. Images of Lloyd from before his transformation flooded her mind, as they were tied into her emotions, and therefore her mana. Rose had commented once on how unusual Colette's mana was; nine times out of ten its strength was determined by the strength of the person using it, but Colette based her power off of her emotions.

Therefore, if she wanted to only hurt someone, she would feel pity and a wish to save the person. Killer intent would do the job of killing whoever crossed her, of course, and sadness would serve to confuse her attackers.

Involve Lloyd, however, and the small angel's powers skyrocketed. Rose never asked why, fully understanding why; Kratos had acted the same way when protecting Anna. No matter what seemed to happen, love was the strongest thing out there.

As Colette let the thin chakrams sail through the air again, a spectral tail of pink tinted mana and feathers followed them, cutting pale pink arcs in the sky. Rose smiled at the sight, then sighed internally; if only love could help pull Lloyd out of his trance and restore him...she didn't like seeing Colette so depressed, and she highly doubted that her younger brother was completely supportive of it either.

Pushing such thoughts out of her mind, Rose smiled and nodded. "Nice. Now let's see if you can control the chakram's trajectory in midair." She stated, tossing one of her own weapons between her hands. Colette gave her a confused look, so the Archangel decided to restate what she had previously said. "Try controlling the way your chakram is heading in midair."

"Oh, okay!" Colette smiled, even though she knew what Rose had just suggested would be difficult to handle. But to the angel, if it meant the difference between helping Lloyd and dying at his hand, she'd learn it no matter what. The painful dagger in her heart that appeared whenever the thought of fighting Lloyd had begun to lessen as she accepted that he was now her enemy, and that she had to fight him.

Remembering her love interest before he had turned so drastically, she re-directed the chakram closest to Rose, but not in the direction she wanted.

It was a start...

And if it meant that she could help Lloyd, she'd learn it, no matter how difficult.

* * *

_**Sorry, no Lloyd appearance. He'll show up next chapter though, which will be the last one before the gang goes to confront Lloyd and Yggi...I hope you all enjoyed this, and I shall see you next chapter!!**_

_**Review!! Even if you don't have much to say, just review!!**_


	11. Cycle 11

_And here is the last chapter before the group heads to Welgaia. I hope you enjoy this, 'cause Kaze has some things to say…he's really a deep character…But I digress._

_And there's the costume change in here! xD I have to admit, Zelos looks a LOT better in black and orange than in pink…but he still has SOME pink, just not overdoing it!_

_And I'd figure I'd do this as well as in my "Prince Lloyd" story, but ARCH and "Heaven's Prince" have no connection-I just used the eight Archangels and the beta-ARCH transformation in there as well-too lazy to come up with more OCs._

_I do not own Tales of Symphonia!_

_Cycle Eleven _

* * *

(Welgaia)

Lloyd was staring blankly out the nearby window, his wine red eyes distant. Kratos walked over and stood behind him, slightly worried. "Is something wrong?" he asked, catching the teen's attention, if slightly.

Glancing briefly at his father, Lloyd spoke softly. "Dad…when you had to kill Mom…what happened?"

"Hnnh?" Kratos felt slightly alarmed. Turning Lloyd to face him, he asked, "I respect your wanting to know, but why bring it up now?"

"…" Lloyd didn't respond, and yet his emotionless eyes told his father everything. The auburn sighed, eyes weary.

"…I felt…like I had died myself…" Kratos placed a hand over his chest, fingers digging into the fabric above his heart. "Even now…there is a pain here that I can't begin to describe…."

"A pain…?" Lloyd seemed confused-if people without emotions could become confused.

"My grief and sorrow are still here…I cannot escape from them."

"But why does it hurt so much…?"

"…Because Anna meant more to me than my own life." A sad smile had formed on Kratos' mouth, and his wine colored eyes were over bright from tears that he couldn't shed. "Because I love her, and still do." Unable to resist, he pulled Lloyd into a hug. 

"I know you said that you couldn't describe it…" Lloyd whispered, his voice soft as he looked up. "But what does it feel like when you think about what happened to Mom?" A hand went to cover the runes that covered his hand where his mother's Exsphere had once been. Kratos bit his lip.

"Most times, I feel numb. But on occasion, it seems like a dagger made from sorrow is gouged into my soul, and someone is twisting it around in the wound. No matter what happens around me when I feel that, I cry." Looking away and out the window, he whispered, "It's a soul-searing pain, hurting someone you care for." With that, he walked off. Lloyd stood where he was, eyes looking at his left hand.

"…A soul-searing pain…that makes you cry regardless of what's happening…." He whispered, mind slowly working away as he chewed his lip.

"…Hurting someone that means more to you than your own life…"

* * *

(Archangel Base)

"Well, this certainly looks…different." Colette commented, looking at her new outfit in wonder. The blue cloth fitted snugly around her torso, and tapered off into a pleated skirt, with its edges trimmed in cerulean and white. Rose giggled lightly, adjusting the chakram holsters so that they wouldn't bump against the angel's legs while she walked.

"It'll do." Satisfied, the auburn stood and backed up. "The reason the skirt is like that is to make movement easier-tripping will still get you killed." As Colette turned around to look at her, Rose smiled weakly. "Sorry, but…" Shaking her head, she turned around and fell silent. Colette didn't ask-she figured that with having to fight a family member, Rose would be pretty worn. Figuring that she would need some time alone, the blond left the room.

Almost immediately after, Colette heard a loud bang as Zelos appeared out of thin air, dodging something that looked an awful lot like a horse made of wood. "Geeze Sheena, I said I was sorry! Watsu gave me the wrong room number!" the redhead yelled down the hallway, golden orange wings flapping behind his back.

"Hello Zelos!" Colette chirped, popping up behind the older Chosen. "What happened? Wow, you look nice!" Zelos chuckled and looked down at his black coat, which had orange flames at the edges and hems of the sleeves. An orange headband trimmed in black pushed his Indian red hair out of his face. A pink shirt and white pants stood out in stark contrast to his coat.

"Ah...I accidentally walked on Sheena while she was changing." He explained, flushing slightly. "She had her back turned, so I didn't see anything...Damn Watsu, he told me that the brat was in room 251 waiting to talk with me."

"Maybe he got the rooms mixed up?" Colette offered, not wanting to think that the Archangel had tricked the Chosen into doing something like that. Zelos made a face.

"I doubt it." He muttered. "That guy's got a nasty streak in him as long as the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge. Makes me wonder why someone like Kratos' older sister can stand working with him."

"Practice." Genius drawled, walking up to stand with the angels. A long sleeved midnight blue shirt and black shorts had replaced his old outfit, and a bright yellow scarf dangled from his neck. (A/N: Nils's scarf! I love Nils's scarf! -squeals-) The latter was so out of place that Zelos couldn't help but comment on it.

"What's with that?" He asked. Genius shrugged.

"It enhances the strength and accuracy of ice spells." He explained, smiling. "Come on, everyone else is downstairs!" Colette and Zelos cast a glance at one another before heading downstairs.

They had nearly reached the room where Kaze was waiting to talk with them when a blur of purple and black appeared in thin air above Zelos and dropkicked the redhead to the floor.

"Pervert! Walking in on me while I was changing, even after I TOLD you that I'd skin you!" Sheena yelled, hazel eyes flashing. The color scheme of her outfit hadn't changed much, simply changed a little. Her dark purple yukata-styled top split on the sides to reveal black shorts. A fishnet suit covered beneath the dress to her elbows and knees. Black ninja sandals covered her feet, while she wore a ribbon with what appeared to be kunai tied to the ends in her hair.

Right now, Zelos was praying frantically that Sheena wasn't going to use one of them on him.

"I told you, Watsu gave me the wrong room number! I'm innocent!" Zelos yelled back, jumping to his feet and hiding behind Regal. The martial artist shook his head and stopped Sheena's next attack, the fabric of his sleeve rustling slightly as he caught Sheena's fist.

"Even if it was intentional, fighting one another is not the best of ideas." He stated, lowering the kunoichi's foot to the floor and walking into the room behind him. His outfit was plain, light material fabric dyed a deep forest green. It was designed for easy movement, so while it wasn't clingy, it wasn't baggy either. 

Presea approached as well, her axe strapped to her back. She wore light yet sturdy armor over a black long-sleeved shirt and equally black pants, grey boots covering her feet. Her Exsphere showed through the unbuttoned collar, but she had a faint smile on her face as she drew close.

"It seems that the only one we are missing right now is Raine." She commented, only for Regal to poke his head back out of the room.

"No, she's in here waiting for us. So is Kaze, for that matter." He replied, retreating back into the room. The other five followed him, trying not to stare at Raine, who looked very much ready to go on an archeological dig, complete with a broad brimmed hat hanging from a string on her neck. (A/N: Think about Indiana Jones, and imagine Raine wearing that-cause basically, that's what it is. Minus the gun holsters, that is. But the whip...-shifty glance-) Kaze sat in front of her, hold what appeared to be a dead crab.

"Dare I ask what you're doing to that?" Sheena asked as she sat down. Kaze smiled.

"I am just finishing my breakfast, no dah!" he replied cheerfully, biting off the remaining leg before throwing away the empty shell. Swallowing while the others seated themselves, his face suddenly grew serious, his golden eyes dim. "You want to know why I'm talking to you now, no dah?" Not even his catch phrase held a hint of playfulness. "I shall tell you. Although you are going to fight your best friend, I must tell you this.

"You must destroy the book that allowed Yggdrasil to turn him into such as well.

"Normally, the eight of us would accompany you to do that ourselves, but we have other things that we must attend to-in other words, we need to check the mana status of the Guardian shrines. That means we shall be literally scattered to the four corners of the earth. Haru-dono and I head east, Hi (Rose)-chan and Watsu-kun head south, Fuyu-chan and Yuki-kun head north, and Aki-kun and Chi-chan head west. We will be out of contact with one another, let alone you.

"And since I feel I should say this, I shall. Don't try to convince Lloyd to rejoin your side. Beta-ARCH are loyal to only those who they take orders from, no-one else. While they can be ordered to take orders from other people, there are certain standards that take place. Even if Yggdrasil has Lloyd listen to orders from any other angel, his orders will override anything another angel says. And although there IS a loophole about that, I do not know what it is." Kaze stopped to take a breath, closing his eyes.

"I know how harsh it is to lose someone to the Beta-ARCH transformation, even if they don't become such a killing device themselves. I am the sole survivor of my family, who were massacred by a squad of ARCH during the Kharlan War. Even my sister Mizu, who was barely five years old. To the ARCH, it doesn't matter how old you are, how young you are, or how close you are to the ARCH before they became ARCH-if their orders state it, they will kill you in cold blood. They do not understand remorse, guilt, or regret. They are more machine than man, with hearts made of an Exsphere. In fact, the only way to kill them is to drive a blade through their heart, thus shattering the Exsphere." Standing, the aqua winged Archangel turned around and pulled his boomerang from the wall. "It makes me sad, to know that you have to fight Lloyd-kun. Hi-chan has refused to fight Kratos on numerous occasions, and she would sooner kill someone else than kill her family."

"Even if Lloyd tries to kill her?" Raine put in, worried. Kaze didn't turn around, but he nodded.

"Yes, even if he killed her." With that, he left the room.

* * *

The seven friends stood outside of the base, talking once more to Yuan. 

"You say you have a plan for sneaking into the Tower." Yuan commented, lounging against his Rheaird. "Care to share it?" Not surprisingly, the friends shook their heads, making him grin ruefully. "Figured as much--just so you know, there is a little exit off to the side in the cliffs. I'll show it to you before I take off to secure the remaining base." 

With that, eight Rheairds soared off into the air, heading for the ebony tower in the center of the world...

* * *

_And the next chapter is in the Tower, but don't expect to see it anytime soon. Why not? Because I'm grounded, that's why. I had bad grades, but during this undetermined amount of time, I shall be working on chapters for ALL my stories, so there shall be MASS UPDATING when I get un-grounded. Until then, many apologies._

_Review please!  
_

_-Li_


	12. Cycle 12

_He heh hehhh…And now we meet up with Lloyd…-insane laugh-  
__**Kratos:**__ You enjoy tormenting us don't you?  
__Of course! I do have a limit though. –nods- There's one plot bunny that's been bugging me for MONTHS, and I still haven't written the story it wants me to yet!  
__**Kratos:**__ And what happens in that?  
_… … _Uhhn…-Whispers plot line in Kratos' ear-  
__**Kratos:**__ OO I'm sorry I asked…  
__Now you see why I'm not writing it. –waves- I don't own ToS!_

_Cycle Twelve_

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_Yuan scowled as he scoured the area around the smoldering ruins of the Triet base, searching to see if any of his men had survived the Prisma Cannon attack that Lloyd had unleashed. So far, he had no such luck—solidified Aether was a lethal weapon, and if that teen kept on getting stronger…_

'_No wonder Yggdrasil wanted him on his side—he's got a lethal potential.' Yuan muttered, shaking sand off of the dark blue outfit he had on. It was light, but sand still got in through the collar and the cuffs of the sleeves, which was irritating._

_Lifting aside a portion of blackened wall, Yuan suddenly found himself with a blade at his neck; a spectral blade with a silver hilt, to be exact. He sighed._

"_Hello, Lloyd." He said calmly._

"_Did you know that I thought I would find you here?" Lloyd's quiet voice asked, and the older angel became painfully aware of just how dangerous of a situation he was in. If it came to a fight, he would be able to hold his own for a good long while, but seeing as how Beta-ARCH were __**created**__ to be assassins, Lloyd would get him…eventually._

"_I'm really not all that hard to predict, now am I?" Yuan chuckled, reassuring himself that the sweat running down his face was due to the fact that he was standing directly under the desert sun._

"…_Lord Yggdrasil told me to kill you." Lloyd whispered, voice barely audible. Yuan turned his head, hiding his shock._

"_Did he now?"_

"_He told me to kill the leader of the Renegades—I do not believe he knew it was you." Lloyd shrugged, removing the Aether blade from his neck. "Besides, Lady Martel told me to not kill you." Turning around, Lloyd replaced the blade at his waist. Turning fully around, Yuan's eyes widened._

_Lloyd's outfit had changed slightly since he had first been initiated into Cruxis. He still wore crimson and white, but there were a few slight alterations. The jacket he now wore had bronze accents with silver buckles on the sleeves—there were still the red ribbons from before. And the buckles that covered his person were now a bronze color, making the white of the outfit even whiter._

"_Wait…Martel asked you to spare my life?" Yuan asked, surprise in his voice. Lloyd glanced back at him and nodded. "But why would you listen to Martel if she's not…"_

"…_I would sooner answer to Lady Martel than I would to Lord Yggdrasil." Lloyd replied simply, turning around and spreading his wings. "Besides, she had an understandable reasoning for asking me." Before Yuan could get another word in edgewise, Lloyd had vanished._

_(End flashback)_

Yuan looked behind him at the seven friends, contemplating whether or not to tell them about his rather unusual encounter with Lloyd around four days ago. After a minute, he decided it would only make them worry more, and they needed to concentrate on defeating Yggdrasil, and most likely Lloyd.

Normally, he would've told the friends NOT to kill him, but that seemed like it would be nigh impossible to do—a Beta-ARCH was loyal only to who had created it. But then again…he'd listened to Martel over Yggdrasil…

Maybe he was an exception—Lloy had said Martel gave a good reasoning…

'Wait…how is Lloyd able to talk to Martel?' Yuan thought suddenly, remembering that the goddess couldn't speak normally. Shaking his head, he decided to worry about it later—right now, he needed to get the gang into the Tower.

When all the Rheairds landed, Yuan beckoned the group away from the main entrance to the tower, leading them into a tucked away entrance, hidden by a rock face. The others thanked Yuan quickly and headed in, and yet Raine hesitated for a minute.

"What will happen to you?" She asked, slightly worried. "If we don't make it out alive, then…" Yuan closed his eyes and looked away.

"I won't lie to you—Yggdrasil has given Lloyd orders to kill me." Raine's eyes widened.

"How do you know that?"

"I had…a run-in with him." Yuan shrugged, looking back. "And before you asked how I managed to live through it…let's just say that I got lucky." Looking at the friends, he muttered, "They're waiting for you." Raine jumped and began to head back into the passage when Yuan's hand lightly squeezed her shoulder.

"…I'll be fine—you guys just go and help Lloyd get out of Yggdrasil's control…even if that is only possible through his death…" Before Raine could comment, Yuan left. Sighing, the half-elf walked into the passage.

After purchasing some items from the pair of refreshers nearby—which everyone found to be randomly placed—Colette headed for the portal leading to the main hallway of the Tower. Behind her, Sheena muttered something under her breath, and a small orb made of solid shadows slipped up behind Colette and clung to her leg.

"Hey, Sheena?" Zelos asked, startled. "What is that?" He pointed at the blob, which Colette didn't seem to notice clinging to her leg. Sheena grinned foxily.

"A little trick that Aki taught me." She replied as the blond disappeared. Quickly, the summoner settled herself into a crouch, drawing something on the floor of the passage. After she was done, the others saw what had to be a view of the tower from the orb's point of view—it had detatched from Colette's leg. "Everything that little guy sees, we'll see as well."

"Can we hear?" Genius asked. The ninja shook her head.

"Unfortunately, no…" Was the last bit of the discussion as the orb—and through it, the friends-- saw the portal in the center of the room flare with light, and an all too familiar angel appeared.

Colette gulped as Lloyd approached her, praying that the ARCH didn't plan to attack her. Instead, as he came near, she saw that he didn't have his wings out, and his swords were still strapped to his sides. In fact, one could almost say that he seemed surprised, if he had emotions.

"Chosen, what are you doing here?" He aksed, making Colette flinch slightly—Lloyd NEVER called her "Chosen" like that—it was another sign that he was not her friend anymore. Drawing a deep breath, she met Lloyd's blank wine colored eyes with her sky blue ones.

"Lloyd…why did you agree to do this?" She asked, and for a split second, she swore that she saw what appeared to be a flicker of shock in Lloyd's eyes. Emboldened, she continued. "I know that you aren't one to make such a decision lightly, but why…"

"… …" Lloyd turned away, looking up at the empty space that filled the Tower's vast center. "…To keep you all safe." He murmured after a minute, voice soft. "I didn't want you all to be in any more danger…"

"…What?" Colette was shocked, and she grew even more shocked when Lloyd turned back around—he seemed to have tears gathering in his eyes! Shaking her head, the blond felt something in her give way—it was her fault again, wasn't it? "Lloyd…" She murmured, grief deep in her voice. "I'm sorry…"

"?" Lloyd made a questioning noise, stepping forward slightly.

The six waiting below in the passage—due to the fact that they couldn't hear—were confused as to what was going on. Why wasn't Colette trying to coax Lloyd into letting them into Welgaia? The two angels looked at one another for a few minutes in silence before Colette sniffled quietly.

"It's all my fault, isn't it?" She whispered, eyes watery. Lloyd stared at her blankly, but he seemed to step back slightly, his eyes glancing briefly behind her. Colette didn't notice. "If I had just…this would never have happened if I wasn't such a foolish Chosen…" A tear hit the floor, then another. "Because of me…you've sacrificed everything just so that I…wouldn't suffer…"

"…" No response came from Lloyd—was he in shock? Unable to simply stand there any more, Colette threw herself at the ARCH, trying to throw her arms around his neck. Not surprisingly, Lloyd caught her by the arms, face staring blankly at her.

"…Colette." His voice by her ear startled Colette, making her look up at his face. Tears ran freely down her cheeks as Lloyd sat her down and turned around, walking back towards the way back to Welgaia. When he was just a few feet away, he stopped. "Colette…whatever you plan to do…I'm sorry, but I cannot help you…You might want to leave, before Pronyma comes…" He began to walk again, and then turned.

Raising an arm, he began to gather mana into his palm, voice and face completely expressionless. "Genius was right to say I live only by instinct—and once again they gave me a good hunch that you wouldn't come alone without reason…" The mana in his hands began to swirl in different colors, the brilliance of the orb casting dancing shadows on his face, making his wine colored eyes shine with a bloody hue. "…I'm sorry, but I have to do this…"

"But I…" Colette began, choking on her breath as the lighting in the temple seemed to dim, the radiance of Lloyd's attack consuming all of the light in the room. Unable to speak louder, the blond whispered, "I love you…"

"_I tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
But though you're still with me...  
I've been alone all along"_

"I know…" Lloyd's voice was even softer, and seemed to be filled with sorrow that leaked through a tightly sealed gate, leaving on a thin strand of it audible. As he spoke, his eyes closed, but when they opened again, they seemed to be watery, and a sad smile was on his face, "…That's why I'm sorry…" Closing his eyes again, the ARCH said in a barely audible tone, "Arceus' Judgment."

_"When you'd cry I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of you fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have...All of me..."_

In a blinding flash of white light, a golden ring with four spikes formed around Lloyd's left hand, the base of each spike extending to his hand. The mana that danced in front of his palm took on a swirl of deep sapphire, pale violet, and pristine white, making it appear like the angel held a fallen star in his hand.

But instead of firing the star off, Lloyd stood there silently as a strange song began playing in the air, and the star's light expanded to cover the entire area. When it reached Colette, it covered her like a blanket, and continued onward.

When it reached the blob that Sheena had sent up with the blond, all the group could see was a veil of shifting light.

"What the hell!?" Zelos yelled, and the others stared in shock—this was definitely not a typical attack!

As soon as the entire chamber was lit up, Lloyd's eyes closed again, and the star vanished. But almost instantly, a thin pillar of light sprung up from beneath Colette and shot to the ceiling, throwing the rest of the area into shadows. The blond didn't scream while the light engulfed her, and instead smiled sadly at Lloyd, crying.

Then the light brightened, engulfing all but the ARCH whom had summoned it.

When the light had cleared, Colette was lying on her side on the floor, and Lloyd slowly approached her. The angel's footfalls echoed eerily around the silent Tower. Kneeling, Lloyd felt for a pulse, then picked Colette up. "...I'm sorry." He whispered once more, carrying her bridal style over to the transporter. "Dad told me to keep you safe, no matter what..." Suddenly flicking his gaze back down the passage, he set Colette up against a pillar.

Straightening back up, he spoke coldly, "I know you're there, Sheena. Stop hiding." As he turned, the named summoner appeared, tears of fury shining on her face.

"You...MONSTER!!" She hollered, charging straight at Lloyd, fist raised. The ARCH saw her coming, but didn't move to intercept or dodge the attack. Letting the ninja's face come into contact with his face, he didn't react as she yelled, "How could you do that!? How could you do that to Colette?! She's been your best friend for years, and you just kill her?! You heartless bastard!!"

"...She's not dead..." Lloyd whispered softly. Sheena only seemed to get angrier at him.

"That doesn't make it any better!! She LOVES you, you...you..."

"I know."

"THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU ATTACK HER!?" Sheena was going ballistic now, and Lloyd's completely blank face was only making her angrier. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN YOUR HEAD, YOU DEMON?!" When Lloyd didn't respond, she cursed colorfully in Mizuhoen and went to hit him again when Lloyd's fist connected with her stomach, sending her into what remained of the pillar that Lloyd had broken on their first visit to the Tower.

"Sheena...please don't make me do this the hard way..." He ordered coldly, grey wings flashing into existence at his shoulders. Wine eyes steady in an emotionless face he stepped away from where the unconscious blond rested. Sheena scowled more, not bothering to stop her tears.

Pulling out a spell card, she hollered out, "Raiton!! Rairyuudan!!" (Lightning style: lightning dragon shot) Out from the card shot a dragon shaped like the largest Oriental dragon ever seen made out of sheer lightning, heading straight for Lloyd. The ARCH sighed and rested a hand on his left handed blade. Drawing it, he waited for the dragon to come close, then simply slashed at it with the solid Aether Blade, cleaving it in two. The next second, the ring around his left hand flashed, and the Blade grew in length.

"So...you stand and fight..." Lloyd commented, drawing the right handed blade as well. Shifting into his fighting stance, he stated, "You might as well call the others out here; you won't last long on your own." Sheena smirked, and the others appeared one by one on the transporter, rushing to stand by Sheena as they faced off against their old friend.

Lloyd looked at them all before him, and sighed. 'Why did it come to this?...' The sole thought echoed in his head as he looked blankly at his olds comrades. He seemed to be sad, but the others quickly reminded themselves that Lloyd possessed no emotions, and that they would die if they let up. It was only then that Genius noticed the strange ring around Lloyd's left hand.

"So that's what that light was!" He exclaimed, eyes wide. Haru had told him briefly about a powerful light attack called Arcerus' Judgment, but she didn't know it personally—if Lloyd knew it, that was bad: Arceru's Judgment was supposed to be the deadliest light spell out there...and not just because it had strong attack potential. What made it so deadly was that if the person using it was angelic in nature, there were occasional pluses.

For a long moment, nobody moved, and Lloyd simply stared at the group. Finally, he sighed audibly. "How did it come to this?" He asked none in particular, and charged.

Not one to sit back and wait, Zelos charged forward. "Double Demon fang!!"

"Fierce demon fang!" Lloyd countered. The two attacks hit dead on in an explosion. Never breaking stride, Zelos launched a second attack. "Blazing Demon Fang!!" A shockwave made of orange flames raced at Lloyd, who back flipped to dodge before countering again.

"Aether Fang!!" He yelled, and a prismatic shockwave cut clean through the fire one, and nailed Zelos, sending him flying into an unbroken pillar. Slumping to the ground briefly, Zelos stood quickly, ignoring the blood trickling from his shoulder.

"Heh...why doesn't that surprise me?" He joked lightly.

"Do you honestly think I sat around on my ass doing nothing all week?" Lloyd retorted flatly, before leaping over a charging Presea and Regal to land a rather sudden dropkick onto Raine, who dropped her staff in shock. But before Lloyd could do much more, he turned and slashed his swords through an Air Blade spell. Squaring off against Genius, the ARCH waited for the half-elf to do what he could sense he was doing.

The next second, the air was a churning mass of scythe blades made from solid wind diving straight for Lloyd, who dodged and parried them as they approached before attacking himself. "Judgment!" Pillars of light fell from the ceiling, rings of light around them—a plus from the Arceru's Judgment, as they did more damage. While the group was busy dodging or countering the pillars, Lloyd headed for Sheena.

"Luster Purge!" A small burst of light formed at his words, which he rammed into the ninja's stomach. The light exploded, sending Sheena flying. She connected with a second pillar, and seemed to be temporarily out of it.

Spinning, Lloyd felt a kick from Regal land a blow on his side. Turning to face the martial artist, Lloyd watched as several kicks flew at him at once. Sheathing his right-handed blade, he either blocked them , caught , or dodged them. Finally, he caught one of Regal's feet and didn't let go, opting instead to use it to grab the older man's shirt and fling him across the hall.

Presea snuck up behind him, her axe high. Slamming in on the ground, she cried, "Doryuudan!!" (Earth dragon shot) From the fissure erupted a oriental dragon made of stone, aiming straight for the angel. Lloyd leapt into the air, light gathering around the ring on his left hand.

"Tenryuudan!!" (Heaven dragon shot, I think) He responded, and a spectral dragon collided with Presea's stone one. The resulting explosion sent rubble the size of boulders through the air, which made Genius grin—if Lloyd wasn't evil, he'd owe him one.

"FORBLAZE!!" The ground cracked, and the rubble flew up to join the still airborne boulders as white hot flames roared out from beneath the ground and formed a pillar aimed straight at Lloyd. At the same time, he heard Raine.

"Ivlandi!" The shockwave of light flew at Lloyd at a barely visible speed, but the ARCH didn't seem too worried.

Ivlandi hit him first, ripping through cloth and flesh to leave scars. But as the Forblaze hit him , Lloyd seemed to glow-the fire rejuvenated him. Raine swore as Hi's words came back to her.

"_Both light and aether do absolutely nothing, while fire heals him."_

But before she could shout out a warning, Zelos had cast another fire spell.

"Heat Wave!!" A ring of white flames raced out at the charging Lloyd, who didn't seem to notice. Some of the embers remained on his wings, and they seemed to blaze as he reached Zelos.

"Divine Falcon!" The dive attack knocked Zelos through the air and against another pillar at such speeds that Raine feared he broke his neck. When the Chosen staggered to his feet, however, she figured that he would be okay for a while, but another blow of that strength would knock him out. A good distance away, Regal was getting up as well, and Sheena seemed to be less dizzy. Moving back towards where the two Sage Siblings and Presea stood, they turned to face Lloyd again.

Lloyd didn't seem too shocked, if he could be shocked at all. Instead, the angel closed his eyes, and the ring around his hand glowed.

"CRAP!!" Genius yelled, eyes wide. "It's Arcerus' Judgment!!" As he spoke, the same violet, sapphire and white light spread out around the field again. Instead of forming a pillar for each group member, a single immense pillar of light shot up, the starlight it was made from blinding any who looked at it.

When it was gone, Zelos and Presea were unconscious, Regal was barely standing, Genius and Sheena had both barely managed to block most of the damage in time, and Raine was leaning on a pillar to stay upright.

"No wonder Haru-dono called it the strongest light spell out there..." Genius thought, staring at his old friend. "If I hadn't blocked when I had, I would've been out."

"We cannot show mercy." Regal grunted, standing upright. A massive cut bled freely on his shin, and he clutched at his side-Lloyd's throw had broken a couple of ribs. Sheena was scowling, tears running down her face again—this was too heartbreaking...Him and Kuchinawa...Pulling out a card, she slammed it on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" At her command, four elementals shot from the ground-a dragon made of flame, a serpent made of water, a falcon made of wind, and a charging horse made of wood-and ran towards the angel. Lloyd simply cut through the fire and wood elementals, dodged the water one, and used an Earth bite spell to destroy the one made of wind. Settling back into place, he sighed and looked at the four still standing with a grim expression.

"It seems I have no choice...I didn't want it to come to this..." As he spoke, he raised both Aether blades above his head. Beneath his feet swirled mana, condensing into a visible magic circle that seemed to hum. Spectral feathers flew up from around the outer edge and formed a cone shape over Lloyd, glowing even brighter as they reached the Aether Blades. (A/N: I have not figured out how to do this move-which will be named soon-so I just improvised for my fic to fit Lloyd better) Letting go of both blades, they seemed to fuse into a single blade that resettled into Lloyd's grip.

This new blade shone like a star, its prsimatic hue constantly changing colors as what appeared to be an immense bird with spectral feathers formed behind Lloyd. When it was completely visible, Lloyd slammed the Grand Aether Blade to the ground.

"FALCON CREST!!" At his holler, the spectral bird let out a heaven shattering shriek and dove at the four, bowling over with the gales formed beneath its wings before tearing at them with beak and talons. When it vanished, the four were all sprawled out on the ground, and Lloyd went briefly to one knee as the two Aether blades reappeared at his sides .

"Pronyma...come here now." He spoke, and the aforementioned Desian appeared. Lloyd jerked his head towards Colette, who seemed to be merely asleep. "Lord Yggdrasil will want Lady Martel's vessel now." Pronyma didn't refuse; she could see the unconscious friends as well as the next person. Picking up Colette with magic, she vanished quickly. Lloyd turned, and was about to return to Welgaia on the teleportation portal when a kunai flew passed him, opening a cut on his cheek. Turning, he saw Sheena still standing, her breath coming in ragged gulps.

"And just where... do you...think you're going...akuma?" She demanded as Genius and-shockingly-Zelos stood up again. All three looked worse for wear, and none of them looked like they should be fighting anymore. Lloyd looked at them, and his mind swirled.

"Do you wish to die?" He asked softly. Zelos laughed weakly.

"Bud, you don't even know how long I've wanted to disappear from here." He commented, drawing his blade again. "But I know that you don't like this—that you can't escape it because Yggi's pulling the strings..."

"Lloyd...we don't want you to suffer anymore..." Genius added on pleadingly, eyes overflowing. "We want to get you away from Yggdrasil's control...please..." Lloyd shook his head in reply.

"I cannot...I'm sorry..." His voice was barely audible, and he seemed sad. Stepping towards the group, he tilted his head aside as a Bolting spell whizzed by. "Don't Genius...you'll wear out your mana."

"Heh...dropped your guard!!" Sheena suddenly leapt up onto Lloyd's back, stabbing the base of his neck with the second kunai from her ribbon. To her horror, even though there was crimson blood now staining the white and bronze of Lloyd's jacket, the ARCH still stood tall. Lloyd glanced behind his shoulder, and grabbed Sheena by her obi. Flinging the kunoichi back into Zelos, he sent the older two to the floor in a heap as he turned to Genius.

The half-elf had never felt so scared before in his life—Lloyd had used up about a half of his mana, and it seemed to be increasing slowly. 'It must be another plus to having cast Arcerus' Judgment...' he thought, then remembered that Yuan had said Lloyd had been holding back immensely against the group, and that he was only going to get stronger. Going to his knees, he felt the cold silver of one of the Aether blades as the prismatic blade tilted his chin up, allowing him to stare into Lloyd's wine colored eyes.

"...Why?" He asked simply, tears running down his face. Lloyd's eyes closed.

"That is what I want to know as well..." Lloyd whispered, and removed the blade.

But just as he brought it back down to end the half-elf's life, he heard a whistling noise in the air.

"Phoenix Disc!!" Hi's voice rang through the air as the burning chakrams flew at Lloyd. The ARCH leapt in the air as the eight Archangels appeared. Genius looked up in shock.

"Everyone!!" He cried, torn between collapsing and cheering. Watsu grinned ruefully while Haru gathered up mana.

"Revival wind!!" As she let the spell go, the other five friends rose to their feet, nearly completely healed.

"You guys go on ahead and rescue Colette!!" Yuki and Fuyu both yelled. "We'll handle the ARCH!" Not needing more prompting that that, the six ran to the transporter as Lloyd and Watsu crossed blades with a crash. Lloyd managed to get his foot between them and roughly shoved the pyromancer away. As the other eight formed a ring around him, the angel smirked.

"So...you all are here..." He commented, eyes glinting. Hi tensed-she sensed bloodlust. Before any could comment, the brunette looked calmly over at Hi. "And here I thought you wouldn't come, _Aunt._ It's a welcome surprise."

"It's my duty—all Beta-ARCH must be destroyed." Hi replied, heart twisting inside of her. She had kept her promise with Kratos for the past fifteen years; was she to break it now?

_(Flashback)_

_Hi stood beside the grieving Kratos as she managed to coax her younger brother's story from him. When he was through, she could only stare at him in understanding and sorrow; he didn't deserve this. _

"_Kratos...if I can do something to help, let me know." She said, sitting beside him, squeezing his hand. Kratos looked at her sidelong, auburn hair obscuring his red eyes and the tears that fell from them._

"_Rose...if Lloyd managed to live...please, watch him for me...Don't let Yggdrasil know he's alive." Kratos pleaded, voice cracking when he spoke his son's name. Hi nodded grimly, unable to refuse something that was so obviously tearing her younger brother apart._

_(End Flashback)_

Now, staring at what her nephew he had turned into, Hi wondered if she would be able to do this. Shaking her head, she met Lloyd's eyes squarely.

"It is what your parents would want as well—and I will not let you suffer any longer!!" She hollered, violet eyes sparking. The other seven Archangels agreed silently, and the air hummed with mana and nerves.

The real battle was just beginning.

* * *

_Okay, this is OFFICALLY the longest chapter I have ever done! I hope you all found it satisfactory!! I try my best with the fight scenes, and the rest simply flowed once I knew what I was doing!!_

_And if anyone can guess what song the italics "I tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone... but you still have...all of me..." come from, you get a cookie!! In any shape you want!!_

_And yes, I'm still grounded—I just managed to sneak this on while doing homework, so until I manage another update, Sayoonara!!_

_-Li_


	13. Cycle 13

_And here's the next chapter for this!! Whoo!! Lloydie vs. the Archangels!! Tons of things blowing up!! Double Whoo!!_

_-insane laugh heard- What PERFECT TIMING!! –is listening to "Beat the Angel" off of ToS soundtrack (the music played when you fight Yggi, angel Kratos, ect...)- -more insane laughing heard-_

_Cycle Thirteen_

* * *

"Come and get me!!" Lloyd's yell echoed off of the walls in the tower, and he charged at lightning fast speeds towards the older angel, swords raised. Watsu charged at him in return, bringing his broadsword in between their bodies. Meeting with a clash, the two swordsmen battled for dominance. One could hear the sound of breaking metal as Watsu attempted to push Lloyd back with his superior height and weight.

"Give it up gaki." He huffed, eyes wild with the prospect of a challenge. Lloyd gave the elder a dark smirk, one that displayed no emotions.

"And I should do that why?" he retorted, before leaping up and away, yelling, "Judgment Blade!!" Before Watsu could react, the solid Aether blade dropped on him from above. Lloyd would've stayed still if Yuki and Fuyu hadn't come at him at the same time.

"Blizzard!!"

"Frost kick!!"

"Divine shield!!" As soon as the two reached Lloyd, a translucent orb appeared around him, and sent the two Archangels flying a good distance away, which only set them up for Lloyd flying after Yuki, attacking on his mind. "Fire Rain!" As he struck out in his Sword Rain attack, the brunette's blades began to burn at an incredibly hot temperature and began to burn with blue flame as they struck the snow Archangel.

Needless to say, Yuki was in a good amount of pain. In a desperate measure, he swung his staff at Lloyd, only to find him gone and aiming at Haru, who was prepping a spell.

"Starburst!!" shoving a hand at the Balacruf princess, Lloyd unleashed an attack similar at first to Yggdrasil's Outburst attack, but quickly changed into an immense prismatic sphere surrounded by rings of solid light. Haru cried out and flew a good distance away as Aki, Chi, and Kaze all came for the ARCH. Kaze reached him first.

"Dragon Gale!!" Spinning his immense boomerang, the Archangel sent wave after wave of razor sharp wind chakrams at Lloyd, who was hit with a couple of them while injuring Chi.

Turning to face Kaze, Lloyd charged straight at him, blade drawn back. "You will be the first." He said coldly, blade flaring with white and gold flames. "Ancient Soulflame!" There was a burst of white light as the blade touched Kaze's jacket, and a deafening roar echoed in the air. But when it cleared and they saw what had happened, none of them could move, frozen by shock—Haru screamed.

Kaze stopped moving and looked down at his torso, blood beginning to leak out of the corner of his mouth. Lloyd had managed to drive the burning blade through him, and the flames that covered it ate away at his mana. The brunette himself didn't seem to mind the warm liquid rushing over his hands as he drove the sword deeper into the Archangel's body.

"None of you shall leave here alive..." Lloyd spoke silently, withdrawing the blade from Kaze. Blood stained the prismatic surface, turning it a sickening shade of violet. Kaze stared at Lloyd wordlessly, crimson staining the pale blue of his outfit. Golden eyes stared at the teen's wine colored ones, an unreadable feeling in the air.

Then, closing his eyes, the Archangel collapsed limply to the side, blood pooling around him.

The paralysis that had settled around the other seven Archangels shattered with the thump of Kaze's form hitting the floor of the Tower, and they charged as one at Lloyd. The first one to reach him was Haru, who lashed out viciously with a Thunder Blade attack. The ARCH countered it with a Judgment Blade, which resulted in an immense explosion that shook the walls. Right after the dust cleared, Aki had reached him, and attempted to rend off Lloyd's arm, only to find the Aether Blades gouging into his side, knocking him away.

Hi hesitated briefly, utterly torn. While Lloyd had indeed killed Kaze, he was still related by blood… Shaking her head, she chided herself—that sort of thinking would only get her killed when all was said and done. Shifting her grip on one of her large chakrams, she flung them at her nephew. "Suzaku Feathers!!" Once again, the spectral vermilion feathers trailed behind the rapidly moving disc, but this time, Lloyd saw them coming.

"Steel Feathers." In response, feathers made of steel flew at the spectral ones as Lloyd sheathed his blade and caught the chakram in his free hand. Pivoting, he flung the large weapon at an oncoming Fuyu, who cursed and dodged out of the way, but not fast enough to evade the edge, and gained a painfully deep gouge on her arm. "GAHHH!!"

"Fimbulvetr!!" Yuki hollered, sending the powerful ice spell towards the ARCH, who cast guardian to disable the blizzard, only to be caught off guard by the rumbling earth and erupting glacier. Leaping up to dodge it, Lloyd took flight and flew straight at Chi, who began to twirl her axe above her head.

"Fizzure!!" Slamming the weapon back on the ground, the orange haired Archangel sent waves of exploding stone and earth at Lloyd, who flew higher to dodge before landing a blow with his Rising Phoenix attack. Flying into the air again, Lloyd was only mildly surprised to find that Watsu was tailing him.

"FUNERAL PYRE!!" The Archangel hollered, oblivious to Hi's holler of not to use fire spells. It proved to be a pointless holler as Lloyd managed to counter with his own attack.

"Spacial Rend!!" A whorl of fast moving spectral light flashed outward, colliding with Watsu's pillar of orange flames. For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then, the prismatic light formed a series of blades and tore through the flames, and exploded outward, making the entirety of the Tower shake violently.

(Elsewhere in the Tower…)

"What the hell is that?" Zelos asked as he and the others felt the enormous tremor shake the ground of the tower. Sheena concentrated for a minute.

"Gnome!! Do you know what's causing this?" She asked, and the spirit of earth appeared. Gnome waited for a few seconds before responding.

"Well, considering the fact that there's a lot of explosions going on, I'd say that the Tower's pretty much on the verge of collapsing. And, just who the heck is fighting up there?"

"Lloyd and the Archangels." Genius replied. Gnome raised an eyebrow.

"Is that it? Well, yeah. If this rate of explosive attacks keeps being used, they'll bring the tower down around our ears. I mean, c'mon—An ARCH facing a bunch of Archangels?! That's like mixing nitroglycerin and gunpowder and shaking it!!"

"Thank you for that… rather interesting analogy." Regal spoke after a minute of silence. Gnome nodded and vanished, leaving the six stunned and nearly immobile. But once the tower shook again, Presea spoke as well.

"I see that Gnome wasn't joking about the rate of explosions weakening the tower." She commented, heading for the next door. "We must hurry and rescue Colette before they tear it down around our ears… and then our bodies."

"Such a charming thought." Zelos muttered, running to catch up. The others were not far behind.

(Lloyd…)

As the Archangels circled around the ARCH, Lloyd's eyes flickered around, looking for a way out—he was needed elsewhere… Snapping out of his thoughts as Watsu charged him again, he brought both blades up in position to block him. The blades contacted with such force that the sickening sound of shattering metal rang through the clearing, and Watsu's blade broke along its length. Eyes widening, the emerald haired Archangel backed off in time to avoid being skewered on the end of the Aether blade. Seizing the instant of freedom, Lloyd shot up into the air, preparing to warp.

But before he could vanish, a powerful whirl of water and wind flew at him, quickly followed by a fast moving aqua colored blur. Dodging the water, Lloyd blocked the charging blur, catching the large boomerang between his hands.

"What the hell?!" Yuki yelled, jaw nearly on the floor. All but Haru were in a similar shocked state (Lloyd doesn't count due to the lack of emotions)—Kaze had DIED! Hell, they had seen Lloyd's sword go through him!! Okay, they hadn't seen the actual stab, but they saw what had resulted because of it.

"Oh dear; he's entered his bezerker form." Haru sighed, concerned. Hi looked over.

"What do you mean?" She asked, eyes quickly latching back onto the fight above as Lloyd and Kaze separated and began attacking one another again, meeting in the air with a crash.

"I've only seen him like this once, honestly." Haru admitted, shaking her head. "He didn't die that time, but he came pretty close. But if you look, you'll see that there's a… oh look, there it is." Pointing at her younger partner's shoulder, Haru examined the glowing azure dragon tattoo that had appeared on Kaze's person. "Unless that vanishes, Kaze's strength grows, and he is harder to stop while in this form." Yelping as the next explosion knocked a piece off of the Tower's wall, Haru added, "Lloyd is going to have a difficult time keeping up."

"I wouldn't count on it." Hi shook her head, watching as several of the Archangel's blows were deflected or dodged. "Lloyd takes after Kratos in more ways than one—Kratos was good at fighting a bezerk opponent as well. Plus they both seem to be able to think rather clearly in a fight." Haru had to admit that Hi would have to be right about that—this was a member of her family, after all. But in order not to distract the auburn, everyone's focus returned to the bezerk Kaze and cornered Lloyd. That worried Hi to no end.

'Hopefully Lloyd didn't gain _that_ aspect as well…' She mentally prayed, nervous. 'Oh, please don't let him have that aspect…'

With a loud noise, the Archangel's boomerang scored a hit on Lloyd's ribs, and the ARCH seemed to freeze briefly.

'His defenses seemed to have dropped.' Lloyd noted, replacing both blades to his waist. 'That means…' After Kaze lunged in, Lloyd ducked down and nailed a side kick onto the Archangel's ribs. Breaking apart the two began to attack erratically and recklessly, both of them gaining several wounds in the process.

After what felt like several hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, the pair separated, panting heavily. Lloyd boasted a large gouge on his thigh and several minor cuts on his torso and arms for Kaze's wild blows. Kaze looked the worse for wear, his eyes wild. Only a couple deep gouges—one on his torso and one on his right arm—were present.

"Not going to die yet, eh?" He taunted, completely breaking character from his usual self. Lloyd didn't respond, but his battle aura began to draw in. Arcerus' Ring (A/N: that freaky glowing thing around his left wrist from last chapter—he still has it on) began to glow brightly. And for the first time that any of the Archangels could remember, Hi swore. Loudly.

"Shit!! He did get that!!" She cursed, eyes flashing. The others stared at her in cofusion as she cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered, "KAZE!! GET OUT OF THERE!!" The younger Archangel look down at the obviously freaked Hi, but didn't move. Suddenly, there was a mana spike, and the Archangel found himself being thrown across the tower.

'Kuso!' Hi began to wring her hands. "Shit, shit, shit…"

"What are you worried about, Rose?" Watsu queried, referring to his partner by her name. Hi looked over and sighed.

"Lloyd's one of those warriors that's at their most dangerous when they're cornered. Not only does his mana spike erratically, but his attacks are a lot more painful to get hit with. And... it's pretty much a gamble to see if you'll live or not--I don't think that Kaze will last too much longer, bezerker mode or not."

As if he had heard his aunt's words, Llooyd charged rather quickly at the stunned Archangel, who didn't move fast enough to completely dodge the powerful sword blow, which knocked him out of the air.

"Kaze!!" Yuki yelled, alarmed.

"Kaze!" Haru ran over, hoisitng the aqua Archangel onto her shoulder. To everyone's shock, he seemed fine, if a bit worn.

"He's strong, no dah." he chuckled weakly, leaning on Haru to stay upright. "I'll be feeling this in the morning." Looking back up, he commented. "I don't think he's through with us, don't think so at all." He pointed, and everyone else looked. This time, Watsu swore at the same time as Rose.

"Haru!! isn't that ring thing on his arm from Arcerus' Judgment or something?!"

"Arceus' Judgment, and yes it is." Haru nodded, trembling from nervousness. "And judging by the fact that there is a mirror image of Arceus' Ring forming beneath him with runes around it, I would say we are all, to borrow one of your more common phrases Watsu, 'Royally screwed'."

If they weren't in a life threatening situation, the other seven Archangels would've been gaping at Haru for using such coarse language. But instead, they were either torn between praying, desperately trying to find a way to counter whatever Lloyd was doing, or beginning to cast their deflection spell.

_"Denizens of heaven and demons of hell, show this soul to the afterlife!" _Lloyd's voice sounded from above. Hi paled.

"Crap." She muttered, then whispered under her breath, _"Voice of truth and judge of heart, cast your ruling on this soul."_

"_Speak with the God of Death!!"_

"_Illuminate the way to Eternity!"_

"JUDGMENT!!" Both Aurions cried at the same time, and beams of prismatic light surrounded by glowing rings of Aether rained down from above while beams of crimson and violet shot up from below. The two Judgment attacks met in the center of the tower, and instead of one overpowering the other, the two different manas began to merge into a single, dark violet orb of sheer light that would blind one if they glanced at it.

And then, with a deafening explosion, the mana exploded outwards, shattering through the walls of the Tower and into the open air beyond.

Everywhere on Tethe'alla, all activity stopped, and everyone turned to face the Tower as the light exploded outwards, and a tremor raced through the ground as part of the tall ivory surface cracked off and fell to the ground. Mayhem and chaos ensued, with many people running around the continent in mixed horror and disbelief. The Tower of Salvation, the symbol of hope and prosperity, was collapsing.

(Inside the Tower)

The six froze as an explosive booming noise echoed throughout the area, making them pale in shock and fear.

"Dare I ask what that was?" Regal asked silently, voicing everyone's thoughts. Sheena shook her head.

"I'm guessing that something rather large blew up in the seal room." She commented, looking above everyone's heads to stare up at the blank ceiling of the Tower. "Come on, we've nearly gotten to Colette." Tearing off in the direction of the Hall of the Great Seed, she led the others into the grand room just in time to hear Martel—who was within Colette's body—reject all that Mithos had done. The angel seemed to be in denial and he begged his sister not to go.

"It over Mithos!" Zelos announced from the doorway, hand on his sword. Mithos looked over at him, an insane smirk on his face.

"So you lived... It seems that allowing Lloyd to go easy on you was a mistake." Laughing, he assumed his adult form. "No matter, I shall kill you here!!" But before he could move, an immense tremor raced through the ground. "What was that!?" Seizing the instant, Zelos took wing and charged.

(Seal Room)

The seven other Archangels looked in concern for Lloyd, while Watsu supported the unconscious Hi—she had put the majority of her mana into the Judgment spell, and it had put a toll on her body.

"He's not in here anymore, no dah..." Came Kaze's weary comment, making the others tense.

"That's not good—we don't know where else he could've gone then..." Yuki looked in dismay at the destroyed room as the land beneath them shook and rumbled. Fuyu cursed.

"He's probably wherever Colette's at!! The others will be there as well!!" Without voicing any sort of agreement, the Archangels left for the named place.

(Seal Room)

Yggdrasil looked up as Zelos charged, drawing a blade. But from behind, a grey glow formed a few paces away from the Seraph and the Chosen, solidifying into the same ARCH who had started the collapse of the tower, blade raised, charging towards the redhead and the blond.

"ZELOS LOOK OUT!!" The redhead didn't know who yelled first, only that he barely registered the brunette's arrival before the noise of steel piercing flesh and the coppery tang of blood filled the air. Stopping, he stared in shock as blood covered the ground at his feet, and he dimly heard someone scream...

_**TO BE CONTINUED...**_

**_And I didn't say WHOSE blood it was... -insane laugh heard- XP Review to find out whose bleeding!!_**


	14. Cycle 14

_Cycle Fourteen_

_**Previously...**_

"_ZELOS LOOK OUT!!" The redhead didn't know who yelled first, only that he barely registered the brunette's arrival before the noise of steel piercing flesh and the coppery tang of blood filled the air. Stopping, he stared in shock as blood covered the ground at his feet, and he dimly heard someone scream..._

* * *

Everyone present froze and stared. Yggdrasil blinked dimly, looking at his side where a silver and prismatic blade pierced through the white of his uniform. Zelos stared in utter shock as the ARCH pulled the blade out of his 'master' and stood aside, silent as stone, watching the red liquid splatter everywhere.

"Lloyd...are you...?" He stammered, too shocked to say much else. Lloyd merely glanced at him before pulling out Colette's Rune Crest and placing it back on her Cruxis Crystal, not speaking a word. Yggdrasil turned on him.

"How...DARE YOU?!" He howled loudly, unleashing his Outburst attack. Lloyd shoved Colette away and simply stood still while the attack hit him. Like the light spells that had hit him in the Tower's Seal room, it barely hurt him at all. Turning to look at the blond angel, Lloyd moved faster than he had before, and landed a rather nasty uppercut on the Seraphim's stomach, knocking him up and away. Zelos swore he heard bones crack.

Or it would've been away if Lloyd hadn't flown at him, landing an equally nasty dropkick right into his gut.

"What's going on here!? I thought ARCH never betrayed those that they worked for!!" Genius yelled, pointing at Lloyd's unabashed beatdown of Yggdrasil. For the first time in weeks, it felt like Lloyd hadn't betrayed them at all, and they were here to stop Yggdrasil once and for all. The others couldn't answer, as they were as floored as Genius was.

"That's enough, Lloyd." Kratos' calm voice rang through the air, and the ARCH stopped his assault on the blond long enough to fly back up to where his father was. When the others all turned to look at the Seraphim--including an obviously pissed Yggdrasil--they were shocked to see a rather pleased look on his face. But before anyone else could get a word in, a flash of light signified that the Archangels had arrived.

"You guys okay?" Watsu hollered down from where the group hovered, an unconscious Hi on his back. Kratos gave his elder sister a concern look that wasn't lost to anyone. "Mana exhaustion, nothing more." Watsu assured the Seraph, who nodded and looked back at Yggdrasil as he stood once more, cursing quite colorfully.

"Damn you Kratos!!" He hollered, sapphire eyes wild with the sense of betrayal. Kratos ignored him and pulled what appeared to be a book out of his pocket, making the younger angel's cries even more frantic. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET YOUR HANDS ON THAT?!"

"The ARCH book!!" Haru and Raine gasped at the same time, eyes wide. The others all stared, including the semi-conscious Hi.

"No wonder we couldn't find it, no dah." Kaze stated, awed. "If a person has no intention of using it, the mana signature is cloaked."

Ignoring the others, Kratos looked sternly at Yggdrasil, tapping the book against his chin. If there was any emotion going through his wine colored eyes, it showed no more than any emotion showed on his son's face. Lloyd was currently eyeing Yggdrasil intently, blank wine colored eyes seemingly boring straight through the Seraph.

"I asked Lloyd to bring this to me if he could do so without getting caught." Kratos finally responded to Yggdrasil's question, sounding rather irate. But before the auburn continued, a grim looking smirk covered his stoic face, and a mischievous glint danced in the depths of his eyes. "I'm glad he did so—I found something in here that I found rather… interesting." Opening the book to a page, he glanced down at it, seemingly unaware of the killer intent aimed directly at him. "It seems that not too many people know about this, and the only place it's recorded in here is in the footnotes of all places." Closing the book, Kratos idly tossed it down towards Raine. "The page is marked, look down in the footnote section—it's number five on the list. You might want to read it aloud." Raine gave the Seraph a confused look before doing so.

When she found what she was looking for, her jaw hit the floor, eyes larger than dinner plates. "I- it can't be…" She gasped looking instantly at Lloyd, who stood idly by his father, leveling killer intent at Yggdrasil, who shot it right back—neither seemed to be stronger. Almost everyone else looked at the half-elf in concern.

"What is it sis?" Genius asked after a minute, concerned. Raine seemed to snap out of her stupor, and cleared her throat tentatively.

"It seems that this is the loophole that Kaze told us about." She stated, eyes still abnormally large. Shaking her head weakly, she began to read. "Although it is true that an ARCH can be ordered to listen to people other than the one who created them, there are a few acceptations in the order hierarchy. Unless certain circumstances are met, any orders issued by anyone other than the one who created the ARCH are instantly overridden by the creator.

"However, this ability in null and void if the ARCH receives orders from a person who has a… closer relationship to them, usually along the lines of blood. This could be an immediate relative or a close cousin… but more often than not, it is either a sibling or a parent that an ARCH will listen the most to…" Raine's voice tapered off. Zelos' aqua colored eyes widened.

"What you're saying is that because Kratos is his old man, Lloyd would listen to him over Yggdrasil?" He stated, summarizing the situation as simply as he could. When Raine nodded, he nodded. "Yeah, I can see where that would be a MAJOR loophole. And since nobody ever READS the footnotes, most people wouldn't know that such a thing was possible." Looking back up at the two Aurions, only one statement left his mouth, but it was pretty much what everyone was thinking. "Holy shit."

Kratos didn't say anything, but the smirk on his face grew wider.

Hi couldn't help but glare at her younger brother, planning many ways that she would punish him for not telling her about that loophole sooner. 'As soon as I get myself back together, little brother, you are in SUCH trouble!!' She raged inside her head, upset that she even had to be toted around.

Yggdrasil looked around in disbelief at first Kratos, then Lloyd, then back to Kratos before finally resting on Lloyd again. For a split second, he had gone from the one in control to having the disadvantage once again. Why was this happening?!

"_Mithos…"_ Martel's mournful voice called from Colette, making the klutzy blond the focus of attention. Her blue eyes seemed sadder than usual, and as Martel spoke again, her voice softened. _"None of this should have happened. Please, stop this."_

"Martel, what are you saying!?" The blond cried out, turning instantly to his younger form. "Why… Why are you leaving me?!" To the others, he sounded like any other heartbroken child, but they could not feel pity for him. He had done too much damage to them to allow any remorse for what they were doing. Mithos seemed oblivious to everything around him as he ran towards Colette. "Please Martel!! Don't go!!"

"_If things were going to turn out like this, maybe the elves should never have left Derris-Kharlan. That way, people such as us wouldn't have been born… goodbye, Mithos."_ Martel whispered before abandoning Colette's body, vanishing once more into the Great Seed. The blond half-elf looked on in heartbroken disbelief.

"I see… you don't want to be here anymore." He whispered audibly, teary eyes alight with insanity. "You want to leave this filthy planet for Derris-Kharlan. Yes my sister, we will have a world just for ourselves…"

Without warning, the Seraph began to lift the Great Seed away from where it rested just as another violent tremor raced through the ground, and the south wall of the Tower slid onto the ground. Loosing his concentration, Mithos didn't notice the blur of red and white flying right at him until Lloyd contacted with his side, sending him flying into a far corner with a loud crash.

"It's over Mithos." Lloyd stood tall against the shaking ground, Arceus' Ring glowing brightly. And for the first time in what seemed years…

Lloyd grinned, all rebellion and mutiny.

Everyone was paralyzed from either shock, fear, or disbelief, even Kratos. NONE of them had expected this—Lloyd still had emotions?! Mithos stood and stared at him, ignoring the blood running down the side of his face.

"How? This is impossible…" Lloyd shook his head with a chuckle.

"Did you honestly think Mom would let you get away with doing something like this?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest while a smirk covered his face. It was the same dark smirk that he had worn the night he had been initiated into Cruxis, when he'd begun to rebel. Mithos stared in shock at Lloyd's left hand, eyes widening as they spied the runes that covered it, glowing with a bright cerulean light.

"That damn bitch." He hissed, making Colette's eyes widen. In contrast, Lloyd's narrowed sharply, and he seemed to teleport behind Mithos, pulling his head back by his hair fast enough to make it painful.

"I would watch what you're saying, brat." He ordered, massive killer intent piercing into Mithos' being, making the angel nervous. Colette suddenly realized what was going on and gasped.

"Of course!! Lloyd's Exsphere came from his mother!!" She exclaimed, making the others look at her in confusion. Catching on rather quickly, Kratos felt his eyes widen as well.

"Anna…" He murmured, too softly for anyone else to hear. 'Now I see it—her soul was trapped in Lloyd's Cruxis Crystal, so of course she would've intervened with what Mithos was plotting!! But how did she manage to stop the emotion erasing session?'

Mithos tried in vain to struggle out of Lloyd's grip on his hair, letting out a feral scream. Lloyd only tightened his grip. "Next time—wait, you won't be trying that again, now will you?" Mithos sent a deadly glare at Lloyd.

"Too late!! I managed to create others!!" he cackled. Lloyd shrugged.

"Oh, you mean Kuro and Shiro?" He asked mildly, making Mithos freeze in shock. Smiling coldly, Lloyd went on, "I went ahead and put those two into terminal hibernation. They won't be waking up anytime soon, no matter what you do." Lifting his head to look at the still collapsing tower, he added. "Not like they'll be found after this, not with the rate of collapse this high." The blond in his grip grew pale, as the others finally figured out that there was a couple of actual ARCH, but from what Lloyd was saying, they were no more a threat than Lloyd was.

Well, not to them at least.

As if remembering that there were still others in the room, Lloyd turned to look at them. "You might want to get out of here; the Tower's collapsing faster than before." When they simply stared at him, dumbfounded, he spoke again. "GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE THE TOWER COMPLETELY COLLAPSES!!"

To emphasize his point, another part of the wall fell down with a crash, and the others all ran to the portal out of there. But before she got on there, Colette turned around and looked at Lloyd as he casually threw Mithos into the machine that he had placed Colette inside earlier. "Lloyd!!" She cried out, frantic.

Then, to her horror, the brunette looked casually over his shoulder at her, a sad smile on his face. "Go on, Colette." He said, eyes kind. "I've got something to take care of here, and I really don't want anyone else to get hurt." Looking away, he finished softly. "Besides, I've put you through enough."

"But I—" Colette began, eyes watering over.

"Just go!!" Lloyd cut in, not turning around as he watched Mithos stand up and change into his adult form once more. "There's no point in staying here with the Tower collapsing like it is!!"

"Lloyd…"

"Colette, don't forget that I've done all this to keep you from being sacrificed. And though I'm being a hypocrite, it would be better if I was the one who wasn't here…" Falling silent, Lloyd turned around to make eye contact with the blond, who stared tearfully back at him.

"No…" She shook her head, feeling the tears leak out of her eyes and run down her face. "NO!!" Yggdrasil, who seemed angrier than he'd ever been, attacked Colette with a Holy Lance spell. Lloyd flew towards the blond, shoving her back onto the warp panel, taking the attack instead. As she disappeared, he whispered softly. "I'm so sorry."

"LLOYD!!" Colette cried, reaching out with a hand as if to pull him along. But her hand passed straight through thin air as she left the room, Lloyd vanishing from right in front of her once again. Landing on her knees with a heavy thump beside the others, she simply buried her face in her hands and sobbed, oblivious to anything else around her.

* * *

Back in the collapsing Tower, Lloyd turned to face Yggdrasil. The blond smirked coldly. "Do you enjoy doing that? Enjoy watching your best friend cry?" he taunted, rage getting the better of him. Lloyd turned to look at him, a look on his face that could only be described as dangerous. Not heeding the warning, Yggdrasil went on, "Or is she more than that, whelp? Or… less? That failed vessel is a fool for loving you—emotions or not."

Shaking his head, he floated closer. "You are a living sin, one that I have always despised. Angels were NEVER meant to copulate, especially not with such an inferior human being." Smirking in smug delight, he didn't notice how tightly Lloyd's fist was clenched, nor the blood dripping down from the crescent shaped cuts from where his nails dug into his skin. Through it all, the look on his face continued to darken, until his eyes seemed to glow a dark blood red.

Yggdrasil stopped his rant briefly to glare harshly at him, eyes hard sapphires. "I should have killed you off the first chance I got. But then I would lose your father as well, and I **need** him alive; I can't let my seal on Origin break. And yet he ran off with that woman, and had you… that bitch was going to become the strongest Cruxis Crystal ev—" Yggdrasil was cut off as Lloyd's fist contacted harshly with his face, the sound of bones cracking clearly audible as he flew a few feet through the air. Lloyd's face was nearly completely shadows, and he ignored the blood that flowed from his knuckles.

"That's it—you die." He hissed, eyes a shade akin to blood, no brown left in them. Arceus' Ring flared brightly before a gap appeared on the top and bottom of the ring, and bright emerald orbs flared into being at the place where spike and half-circle connected. His wings, which had been out the entire time, seemed to glow with different colors before being practically ripped apart, replaced by wings that were just as large, but glowed with a prismatic hue identical to the Aether Blades.

To say that the younger angel was pissed would be perhaps the biggest understatement Yggdrasil would ever make.

For a few moments, neither moved, simply glaring and leveling massive killer intent at one another. Then, as the rest of the Tower collapsed into rubble around them, they charged. Prismatic against rainbow, light against shadow.

And nobody else knew how the fight would end.

* * *

_And so cycle 14 ends.  
__**Lloyd:**__ Man!! I don't get to kick Mithos' ass until next cycle!! –blows up Li's room- Oops.  
__...Lloyd?  
__**Lloyd:**__ I'm screwed, aren't I?  
__Yep... –pulls out mysterious red object-  
__**Lloyd:**__ X.X –passes out-  
__Heh, super strong angel or not, he cannot resist the terror that is known as tomato!! –insane laugh heard- BTW, this is the cycle where the alternate ending's going to start, so up to Cycle 13, ARCH-Mikomi no michi (Jap for the way of hope, I believe (Correct me if I'm wrong please!)) is the same as ARCH. –nods-_

_Review for the poor grounded soul!! _

* * *


	15. Cycle 15

_Who's on a roll?  
__**Lloyd:** Psycho lady!! –Points at Li-  
__Don't make me bring Mr. Tomato out here!! –Points at giant smiling tomato behind door-  
__**Mithos:** bring him out anyway!  
__That reminds me. –pulls out rather weird looking muffin- here, have a muffin.  
__**Lloyd:** WHAT?!  
__**Mithos:** MUWAH HA HA HA!! –Eats muffin- What the hell?! –Loses soul-  
__**Lloyd:** What was that? O.O -.- O.O -blink, blink-  
__X A gift from a reviewer; a soul consuming muffin. X –Smiles wickedly- Now give disclaimer. –insane cackle-  
__**Lloyd:** Li-chan0767 owns the eight Archangels, nothing else!!  
__Enjoy!!_

_Cycle Fifteen_

* * *

(Outside the Tower)

Kratos stared hopelessly at the collapsing tower, praying that Lloyd would live through it all and come back to them. If he didn't, the Seraph didn't know what he would do with himself, and Colette… looking at the poor thing now was heartbreaking in itself. The blond was on the verge of losing herself, like after she had released the seal in the Tower. Rose was trying all that she could to keep Colette from entering that state, even though she was on the verge of tears herself.

"What's going on?!" Yuan's voice echoed in the area as the cobalt jumped from his Rheaird, running over towards the group. "I saw the Tower collapsing from the Flanoir base, and-Kratos, are you alright?" He stopped, looking at the auburn in concern. Kratos didn't respond or even turn, eyes locked on the remainder of the Tower. Raine walked over with a sigh, explaining the events that had occurred in the Tower to Yuan, whose expression went from horror to utter shock, jaw nearly on the floor.

"My god." Blinking rapidly, he looked at Kratos. "So Lloyd and Mithos are still in there?"

"Yes." Raine nodded, trembling. "Normally, I'd be upset that he didn't let us stay in there with him, but when Colette told us why he agreed to work with Cruxis…" Biting her lip, the half-elf sighed heavily. "I can't help but feel slightly guilty. We depended on him to be the one with all the ideas for what we would do next, and always looking to him for inspiration… Sometimes I wonder if he was simply tired of it all…" Yuan gave her a gentle look, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Right now, let's just hope he gets out of there alright." Looking once more at Kratos, then at Colette, he added softly, "For all our sakes."

* * *

Yggdrasil spun around in mid-air, an Outburst spell in his far hand. Seeing it coming, Lloyd leapt up to a side. "Prisma Beam!!" The glowing beam of solid Aether shot through the air and burst through a falling slab of the tower to counter the Outburst, sending a wave of heated air through the collapsing chamber. Flying off a ways to avoid another falling slab, Lloyd began to gather mana into his hands again, muttering something that Yggdrasil couldn't quite hear.

"Angel Feathers!!" he cried out, and prismatic feathers flew through the air straight towards the blond. Yggdrasil managed to block and dodge the majority of them. 'Damnit—I wore out most of my mana fighting those angels. I've got to play it safe for a while.' Lloyd cursed in his mind, slashing through another piece of the collapsing structure. The Aether blade slid effortlessly through the marble, a trail of dust following it as the arc it cut in the air continued on and gouged a deep blow in Yggdrasil's side, stopping the Seraph's sneak attack.

"So, you're not as stupid as I had hoped." The blond hissed, eyes flashing wickedly. "At least not in terms of combat or survival. A pity—it would make it so much easier on us both if you would just die." The last word was accompanied by a Judgment attack, one of the beams scoring a hit on the brunette as he flew in between the pillars of light.

Lloyd winced lightly as he glanced down at Arceus' Ring once again, mind ticking away rapidly. The only bad thing about Arceus' Judgment was that it took up far more mana than a regular Judgment attack. But that was do to the fact that instead of light mana, it used Aether, which in itself was risky to use when running low on mana; the Prisma Beam was an exception, seeing as how he could use it subconsciously in need be.

'I'll only have one shot to use it then—better use it at the right time.' Lloyd thought, swerving around another pillar of light and another slab of the Tower's walls, warping as he spun. Appearing behind Yggdrasil, the teen lashed out with the blades in his hands. Yggdrasil howled in pain, spinning around to attack the younger angel. Lloyd ducked low and lashed out with a leg, sweeping the Seraph's out from underneath his person. Making a mental note to thank Regal for teaching him that if he got out of this battle alive, he hopped away, only to hit in the back by a free flying rock. As he hissed and cursed under his breath, Yggdrasil stood and looked around him.

"Now, why don't you say we move this battle… elsewhere?" Cold sapphire eyes looked harshly around at the decaying room in disgust. "That way we won't cause any more alarm than need be, and one of us won't be incacipated by some block of stone." Lloyd looked at him.

"Heh, you just don't want it to end by a falling rock. You'd rather go down fighting, and take me with you." He smiled sardonically, crossing his arms over his chest. "And just where you would suggest we go — even you would want to avoid fighting on one of the worlds, no matter how screwed in the head you are."

"There you would be right, but I have something else in mind." With an oddly flamboyant gesture, Yggdrasil continued. "Nothing but monsters dwell in the heart of Derris-Kharlan, home of the elves. We can continue there." Despite the nagging voice in his skull that told him he'd be better off fighting in the collapsing tower, Lloyd nodded in grim agreement. Within a heartbeat, both angels were gone.

The depths of Derris-Kharlan were far beyond the reach of any aid from either world, and with the loss of the Tower of Salvation, it would begin to drift away from the dying worlds, ultimately killing it. For Yggdrasil, it was the last plan he had in reserve. Even if he lost the fight here, he would succeed in destroying the worlds that he had come to despise, and Lloyd would be incapable of returning to his friends.

So as the rainbow hued light and the prismatic glow appeared and unsettled the heavy violet haze that covered the comet, Yggdrasil couldn't help but smirk in smug satisfaction. The boy had walked into his trap like a blind dog, perfectly unaware that he would never see the worlds that he was trying so desperately—and futilely—to save. What a delightfully ironic twist to this game!!

Sapphire met wine as the two sized one another up. Yggdrasil had managed to cast a strong enough First Aid to heal his cracked jaw from the punch Lloyd had landed on him before, but he bled heavily from several wounds on his torso and back. Lloyd had several bruises and gouges from his fight with the Archangels, and the blow to the base of his neck from Sheena's kunai was beginning to irritate him, but he was mostly worn from mana usage.

"…Why don't we take this to the next level?" Yggdrasil asked, an insane sneer dominating his blood streaked face. "Seeing as how this field will be the place where the both of us will lay and die. We might as well make the most of this fight." As he spoke, the wings at his back grew larger, and they began to glow with an iridescent light that shifted colors every few seconds. Lloyd didn't respond, but Arceus' Ring began to glow again, the prismatic aura that flowed around him condensing into a second pair of wings that grew between the two that had appeared before. But while they were the same size, these inner wings were an opaque hue of cerulean blue, shot through with emerald specks.

And without a word, the two charged again, and met with a loud ringing explosion. "JUDGMENT!!" The explosion of light was visible on the worlds, which dimmed out the ominous violet glow of Derris-Kharlan, demanding all attention. Panic and terror gripped most of the people living down below, and the evidence of the chaos became even more apparent.

But for the friends, the blast of holy light was a good sign—it meant that Lloyd was still alive and fighting. He still had a chance to return home, but now on Derris-Kharlan, that chance was rather slim as the comet continued to slip out of the planet's gravitational pull.

'Please be safe…' Kratos silently begged, staring pleadingly back up at the place where the light had originated. 'Please…'

Back on Derris-Kharlan, the combatants were too focused on fighting than the effect that their attacks had on the surrounding field. Ground crumbled away from the platform that they hovered above, and the haze around them began to disperse and fade, letting the ever thinning atmosphere escape into open space. And as Yggdrasil's Holy lance spell came dangerously close to hitting him, Lloyd began to feel the dizzying affects of mana loss.

'Now or never, but I better get enough space.' the though raced through the brunette's head as he flew up and away from Yggdrasil, the extra speed granted to him by the second wing set putting plenty of distance between them. "Now I can do this properly instead of the rush version." Closing his eyes, Lloyd extended his left arm as the runes on his hand began to glow, and Arceus' Ring detached from his wrist to reappear beneath his feet.

"_Ancient spirit adrift in chaos, one who changes as time and space swirl and form, bring divine ruling upon those that defy your will!! " _As he spoke, Arceus' Ring grew even larger, and the glow was nearly blinding to look at, making Yggdrasil raise his arm to block the light. Lloyd didn't seem to notice it. _"__Rend open space and halt time with your wrath!!"_

"_ARCEUS' JUDGMENT!!" _And all went quiet as the great burst of white light that shot forth from the golden ring covered the entire area, extending its luminescence out into space. And unlike the rushed forms that Lloyd had used before, the fully unleashed Arceus' Judgment didn't go to waste if it missed its target initially, as it had when Yggdrasil had leapt away. A beam of Aether scored a blow on him, followed rapidly by several others.

And finally, to end it all, the golden ring retracted its spikes and flew over so that it hovered around Yggdrasil, and fired the spikes through his person. The screaming was horrendous as the warm crimson liquid filled the air, splattering onto every available surface, including Lloyd, who was bleeding as well. Standing as Yggdrasil fell limply to the floor, Lloyd felt the mana drainage catch up with him—he sorely hoped he had enough to get home.

But just as he turned around, a searing pain tore through his torso near his heart. "I'll take you with me if I must..." Yggdrasil's harsh hiss of breath was faint and weak, but he bore an insane grin on his face. Lloyd looked down, ignoring the blood streaming out of his mouth as he drew away his hand from the area—it was soaked with the blood that pooled from the blow on his person. As he dimly heard Yggdrasil 's body hit the ground with a thump, Lloyd laughed weakly and toppled over forwards and pitched into the vast void of Derris-Kharlan.

"So this is how it ends, eh?" He whispered as he fell, ignoring the slow beating of his heart. "I'm sorry, guys... and Colette... I'm sorry I never got to tell you... I love you... But I won't see you again, not for a while at least... I'm coming, Mom..." A soft sigh left Lloyd's mouth, his eyes closing.

But just as he began to slip away, he felt something that felt an awful lot like the talons of a bird dig into his arm, preventing him from falling much farther into the cold embrace of death.

"_**Oh dear me, we can't have that." **_A woman's voice pounded in his head, and when Lloyd opened his eyes, he felt himself stop moving.

For he had been stopped from falling by the one thing that he had thought had left him behind...

Suzaku.

* * *

_I feel the need to say this... LLOYDIE ISN"T DEAD!! HE IS NOT GOING TO DIE!! –calms down by taking sugar- Anyway, review, and I'll work on the next cycle as fast as I can so you can see what the flipping hell I'm playing at!!_


	16. Cycle 16

__

Woo hoo!! Woo hoo!! Suzaku appears!!

_**Lloyd:** HOLY CRAP!! O.O What's she doing here?!  
__**Suzaku:** Keeping you alive, gaki. (lightly bops Lloyd (grumbles)) Just as bad as the rest of your family in terms of staying alive.  
__Hello Suzaku-gami!! (waves) Good for you to come here!!  
__**Suzaku:** Actually, I'm not the only one...  
__**Arceus:** Hello, Li-chan. Hello, Suzaku, Lloyd.  
__HOLY SHIT!!  
__**Lloyd:** What on earth--wait, Arceus' is a Pokémon?! Why didn't you say so?!  
__I'm a Goin to!! Hold your horses!! -clears throat- Ah, yes, Arceus is an uber Pokémon from Diamond and Pearl--How uber, you might ask? I'll leave Arceus to say it itself. (What gender are you anyway?)  
__**Arceus:** (You may refer to me as a he) -coughs lightly- Ah, to put it mildly, I'm the one who created Diagla and Palkia.  
__**Suzaku: **And you're very modest about it too. -gets into long discussion with Arceus-  
__**Lloyd/Li:** ...  
__I do not own anything, save for my eight Archangels!!_

_Cycle Sixteen_

* * *

Lloyd felt himself freeze as the divine beast above him slowly hovered, wings barely stirring the air. Suzaku was perhaps the largest thing he'd yet to see in his existence—he couldn't say life, as he wasn't certain if he was alive or dead yet. Deep eyes the color of raging bonfires caught and held his own, and he couldn't pull away.

Suzaku's feathers were a deep vermilion shade that seemed to burn from within with an indestructible glow, and her wings seemed to have embers dancing on the fringes where the feathers contacted with open air, burning away the violet haze of Derris-Kharlan. A bright crest of four erect, deep scarlet feathers branched up and over those burning eyes, and golden-orange flames flickered on and off at the tip of them. Burning tail feathers that were the same color of her eyes idly fluttered in the gales caused by her flapping wings, no flames yet present on their edges. Unable to do anything else, Lloyd closed his eyes, mind drifting away.

* * *

_A sudden start made the brunette awake once more, only to find himself in what appeared to be a large pavilion house that nearly scraped the clouds. Looking outside, he saw the very peaks of some of the tallest mountains he had ever seen, making him blink rapidly._

"_Where the hell am I?" he asked blankly, utterly confused._

We are at my home, young hatchling._ The same voice that had entered his mind when Suzaku had grabbed him made Lloyd turn around and yelp as he spied the same divine beast standing before him. Although he had made himself swear to never kneel to another person again, he had excluded gods—especially the one that his family was dedicated to. Going down on one knee, he heard what seemed to be a bird's sigh._ Enough of that._ Suzaku ordered, making Lloyd look up at her in shock._ It's annoying to have one's descendants kneeling before you all the time—makes me feel uneasy.

"_Wait…you're saying that—" Lloyd began, blinking rapidly. Suzaku nodded._

Indeed, but that shall not leave the two of us, clear?_ The authority in her voice was undeniable, and Lloyd nodded quickly. _Good, now stand up. I have some things that I need to ask you._ As the brunette angel stood and brushed himself off, the deity's quick eyes noticed that Arceus' Ring was once again on Lloyd's arm. _First and foremost, however, I must admit that Arceus seems to trust you more than he trusts most humans. Normally, the ring would vanish after you used Arceus' Judgment.

"_It would?" Lloyd asked, surprised. Glancing down at the divided golden circle around his wrist for what seemed to be the first time in a thousand years, he continued. "I didn't think I'd have it on here this long, in all honesty…" Looking back up at Suzaku, he asked, "Arceus isn't a human?"_

No._ Suzaku shook her head. _He is a divine beast much like myself, save for far older and far more powerful. He just has his own domain to look after, so he can't filter back and forth between this world and that one on a whim._ Extending her wings, the Mistress of the South settled herself onto an immense perch on a dais behind her. Lloyd took the invitation and sat in front of her, neck craning to keep eye contact. _Now for what I have to ask you about, hatchling. _Suzaku began._

First off, why are you so bent on saving the worlds?_ Her imperious voice took on a flat tone, displaying no emotion. _No-one has asked you too—in fact, they rely on their Chosens of Mana to fulfill that task.

"_But they don't know that the Chosen will die at the end of that journey!" Lloyd interjected. "I don't want anyone to be sacrificed—I don't care about the reasoning!!"_

And yet you were ready to die yourself. _Suzaku reminded him, cocking her head to one side._ Doesn't that count as a sacrifice?

"_I thought it was called being a martyr, but that's beside the point anyway." Lloyd shook his head, then looked down. "but… sometimes it takes someone dying to save something from destruction, and I didn't want it to be Colette… or Zelos." He added, looking back up at the immense phoenix. Suzaku nodded her head._

And why is that? Why would you not want to lose either of them in place of your own life? _Lloyd's eyes flashed, and he stood on his feet._

"_Zelos is one of the best friends I've ever had—so what if he was a three-way-traitor?!" he practically hollered, eyes wild. "And Colette… Colette…" Losing his anger quickly, Lloyd looked at his feet, voice barely a whisper. "I…I love her… I really don't want her to die for a world that doesn't really even care about her—only about her ability to save the world."_

_Suzaku, who had been mildly surprised that he had reacted in rage at first, made a mental note to speak with Seiryuu about that gamble he and Genbu had going on about who her descendant would end up with (she highly suspected that she wasn't even supposed to KNOW, but she had her ways of finding things out).Returning her focus to Lloyd, she asked quietly._ And how do you think your friends will treat you after you return to them? Will you expect to return to them shamelessly?

"_...No. I won't." Lloyd replied after a minute, looking at his feet quietly. "But I don't care if they hate me or not—I did what I thought was right; they can't—well, maybe they can. But it still doesn't matter!!" Lloyd looked back up at Suzaku, who had a serene look on her face._

You have a large heart, Lloyd._ She commented after a minute, taking in all of the brunette angel with her fiery gaze once again. _If I had let Ereshkigal have you, I'm afraid that things would not turn out so well._ Before Lloyd could get a chance to ask the goddess what she meant, an earth shattering roar sounded from the north. _

_Suzaku and Lloyd both turned to look, and when the front of what seemed to be an enormous blizzard approached, the phoenix sighed. _My sister and brothers are ready now. We can hold Derris-Kharlan for a week with our powers, but all of us have to focus at the same place. _Looking briefly back at Lloyd, Suzaku spoke softly. _This is where we part ways, young angel. Your body is still on Derris-Kharlan, and it's waiting for you to come back._ Before Lloyd could demand an explanation, he was being pulled through a vast dark void, where sound and light didn't reach._

* * *

Up in the depths of Derris-Kharlan, a white being with a golden wheel attached to its midriff stood above what seemed to be a corpse, looking out into open space and deep violet haze as it pondered the forces that had summoned him from whence he came.

_So this is the youngling that summoned my strength._ He thought, kneeling down on his forelegs to stare at the brunette's blood streaked face. _Such a powerful soul, and with such a strong FORCE... Ah, it seems that he's returning. Good._ As he spoke, a pale prismatic glow surrounded Lloyd's form as his soul returned from where Suzaku had taken it. Stirring slightly, he gasped as he spied the pristine white form of Arceus standing over him, and sat up as fast as he could, resulting in the rush of blood to his head.

"Arceus, what brings you here?" He asked, remembering that the divine beast had his own domain to look after. Arceus tilted his head to look at the angel before him in silence, eyes latched onto the runes covering his left hand. Resting his great brow against it, the creature's voice echoed through Lloyd's mind.

_Only one who has a pure heart and unbreakable will can call me from my home._ Arceus' voice sounded like the rolling of vast storms over an open plain as it rung in the angel's head. _Coupled with your untainted soul, you possess the power that only a few have in order to become what you were meant to be._

"And what do you mean by that?" Lloyd asked, ignoring the warmth that was building throughout his person. "What's going to happen next? And… why do I feel so tired…?" His eyes began to close as he heard Arceus speak softly once more.

_Rest, young one. The most difficult part of your journey is over…_ As his words faded from the air, Lloyd drifted off to sleep, a pair of immense glowing, opaque golden wings wrapping around him. Arceus looked on in silent sentry, emerald eyes distant as Lloyd's power began to regroup and change. The divine beast chuckled.

_Only an Archangel can call me from over where I dwell, young Lloyd. _He whispered to thin air._ It is time for you to awaken your dormant blood to its fullest—the blood of an angel that has yet to be corrupted by one of the seven sins is the rarest thing of all here, and it'll make all the difference in what becomes of the soul in possession of such a pure substance._

_Indeed, untainted angel blood is the purest of all substances in the entire world._ As he finished his thought, a pale light began to radiate out from the encasing sphere of feathers that Lloyd rested inside of, making Arceus sigh softly. _And so it begins… best of luck, young Lloyd._ And without another word, Arceus left.

Up above, where Yggdrasil's cold lifeless body laid still and face down on the crumbling stone, Arceus' Ring retracted its spines from the angel's body and flew down to where Lloyd lay incased by the angelic wings and mana. Its golden surface rippled and vanished, only to reappear on the resting Archangel's chest.

* * *

Down on the worlds, the friends found themselves staring in awe as an enormous tortoise with scales blacker than night, with a startling emerald serpent twined around its person emerged from the blizzard, approaching them from the north. With an earth-rattling cry, the blizzard fell away, and a chain of black mana highlighted with emerald shot forth from the earth to twine around Derris-Kharlan.

Before any could raise a sound in response, a whoosh of wind and moisture came in from the east, accompanied by a shriek that sounded similar to rage. From out of the blue dropped a serpentine dragon whose scales were a shade of azure so clear they seemed to glow, and a cerulean mane flowed down its back. When it landed, a second chain, this one azure mana, joined the black and emerald one to wrap around the wayward comet.

To the west came a tiger's territorial cry, and the earth shook as a tiger whiter than snow, with stripes like black lightning racing up and down its robust back bounded into view. Its claws dug into solid bedrock as trees and stone formed around it, and it threw back its white head as the stars seemed to fall at its call and form a white mana chain, which joined the other two, a glowing link to the only source of mana for the worlds.

And from the south came a whoosh of roaring flames and a flacon's cry, and the vermilion phoenix flew in from the mountains. Every flap of its wings raised a small gale, and flames flickered wherever it appeared. Landing beside the other three gods, the phoenix unfurled its wings to their full extent, letting a raptor's cry of victory ring in the air as a vermilion mana chain shot forth and twined around the other three, binding all four into a single chain that bound Derris-Kharlan in place.

The luminescent light that was the aftereffect of the divine magic was blinding to look at, a virtual burst of light and shadows that cast any and all things into high relief. One by one, the four gods vanished to their respective temples, to rest as they had before their strength was needed. The comet would stay chained to the worlds for a full week, any longer and the power would fade, letting it escape back into open space.

But through the light, something descended that only the Four Gods knew of. And as the golden orb of light reached the ground, it retracted into a pair of small, cherubic wings the color of pure gold, one set appearing where each end of the sideways cross on the angel's chest pointed. From behind these opaque appendages appeared a pair of immense, spectral wings with a prismatic hue that would change colors whenever the light hit it. As they fluttered in the faint breeze that had begun a while ago, Lloyd's eyes opened, and he set foot upon the Holy Ground of Kharlan, serene red eyes taking in the view with regret.

Placing a hand over the spot where Arceus' Ring had appeared on his chest, Lloyd sighed softly, eyes watching as the dove grey fabric of his outfit stood out in stark contrast against the gold and emerald shape. The runes on his left hand had gone, a sign that he was no longer what Yggdrasil had tried to make him become—he didn't know if he was glad or not.

Brushing a strand of wayward hair out of his face, his eyes latched onto what seemed to be a strangely shaped cell, a young woman lying before it. Guilt twinged in his heart, and he stepped towards her, the four silver and sapphire tails from Arceus' ring fluttering along side the two grey and black coattails that dangled from his neck. As he reached the girl, he knelt and lightly brushed aside her platinum hair, finding himself looking into pale grey eyes that stared blankly back up at him.

"Usyagi…" Lloyd sighed, feeling horrible. Yggdrasil had managed to get his hands of Usyagi a couple days before, and had planned on turning her into an ARCH alongside him and the twins. He hadn't gotten the chance, as the only two hibernation chambers were in use. Lloyd kicked himself for not trying to get her out before the tower collapsed.

The elven maiden stirred lightly, eyes focusing on the Archangel. When she saw the concerned face framed by flyaway chocolate hair and wine red eyes, she sighed. "Lloyd..." She whispered, voice alarmingly soft. Lloyd gently shook his head.

"Yggdrasil's gone, Usyagi." He assured her, unable to deny what was slowly happening before him. "I finished him off myself, so I'm certain about this."

"That's good." The elf closed her eyes, a weak smile gracing her deathly pale face. "I always knew you were too good for the rest of us—to pure to be the heartless assassin that Yggdrasil claimed you were…" As her breathing slowed she reached up and traced the edge of Arceus' Ring with trembling fingers. "An ARCH, you never were. But an Archangel? I think it's about time you became what you always felt like you should be…" Usyagi's voice tapered off, and her hand fell limply off to one side.

Lloyd winced, removing her Exsphere gently from her. Holding it in the palm of his hand, he began to focus on the small object. With just a little effort, he felt the stone in his hand shatter, releasing its trapped soul into the heavens, a fine powder blowing away in the breeze.

* * *

Colette's eyes were still locked on the spot where the light had dimmed, her heart and mind going in several different directions. Her head felt muddled, and she couldn't help but soar up into the air and fly over to where it had been. The others had been doing other things—mainly tending to wounds—to notice she was gone before she was off in the distance, heading towards the tower's remains.

The blond scanned the area when a flicker of light ahead caught her attention. Looking up, she saw a pair if immense prismatic wings and a head of unruly brown hair with its auburn tint rustled in the wind. Colette's heart leapt; could it be…? Cautious, she called out.

"Lloyd?"

The angel that stood on the ground seemed to tense briefly before turning around, revealing a gentle face framed by brown hair, wine red eyes shining in the fading sunlight. Colette felt tears gather as she smiled broadly, practically dropping out of the sky. "LLOYD!" She extended her arms as Lloyd spun all the way around, his delighted look plain to see.

And as he caught her, he felt slim arms wrap tightly around his neck, a warm and welcome weight in his grasp. Colette's head was tucked under his chin, and her body seemed to be racked with ecstatic sobs as she continued to murmur "You're back, you're finally back…" Lloyd simply buried his face in her goldenrod colored hair, immense wings arching up and around them as he clutched Colette tighter.

After what felt like a lifetime, Colette pulled away just enough to look up into Lloyd's face, her hands resting on either side of Arceus' Ring. "You came back…" She repeated from before, clinging to the grey and silver fabric beneath her fingers. "I… Oh please say I'm not dreaming!" Lloyd chuckled lightly, resting his forehead against hers as his arms tightened around her shoulders.

"It's not a dream, Colette." He replied, his voice only slightly different than before his capture. Leaning in closer, he added on, "It feels too surreal to be a dream." There was no response as she tilted her head up to his, lost in sweet bliss and even sweeter delight.

* * *

_I'm so sorry if the ending was corny—I really tried to make it sweet.  
__**Lloyd:**__ It's okay. -Shrugs-_ _Considering how tiny your font size is, this is pretty dang long for you.  
__**Colette:**__ LLOYDIE!! YOU'RE BACK!! -Glomps onto Lloyd-  
_… -_.-' Get a room you two, there's people that don't really care for Colloyd reading this.  
__**Lloyd:**__ Shall I attack?  
__NO!! I like my reviewers!!  
**Lloyd:** Besides, I thought you said you wouldn't kill me!  
I didn't!!  
**Lloyd:** What do you call my conversation with Suzaku?!  
An out-of-body-experience, that's what!! (Throws chair, which Lloyd blows up)  
__**Colette:**__ Please review!! (Bickering heard in background and Li and Lloyd continue to throw things)_

_NOTE: Usyagi will play a bigger role in the Alternate ending._


	17. Cycle 17

_**Colette: **Luv you Lloydie! -hearts in background-  
__**Lloyd: **love you too… -both hug-  
__**Rose:** Uhm… where's Li?  
__**Kratos:** Sleeping. –goes back to sharpening Flamberge (What's he gonna do with that? O.O')  
__**Rose: **AGAIN!? It's nearly noon!!  
__**Colette:** she had a lot of sugar yesterday… plus socializing takes a lot out of her.  
__**Lloyd:** friggin anti-social fangirl…  
__**Kratos:** -bops Lloyd on head with Flamberge's hilt- Be nice—she could've killed you off.  
__**Rose:** -ignoring her bickering little brother and nephew- Li-chan owns nothing!!  
__**Everyone else:** Rose/Hi…?  
__**Rose:** -sighs- but she does own creative lisence to the eight Archangels. There I said it-get off my case!  
__**Zelos:** That attitude must run in the family. Along with the bird fetish, and the hatred of tomatoes… -starts listing things that Aurions don't like-  
__**All Aurions present:** -grab something sharp and start chasing Zelos around. Yells of "bi-sexual pimp" and "take it back" heard in distance-  
__**Everyone else: **…--'  
__**Watsu:** ANYWAY… on with the fic!!_

_Cycle Seventeen_

* * *

"It's starting to get dark out…" Rose stated calmly, trying not to sound worried. She and Kratos had taken off after Colette once they had realized the blond had gone off on her own. Kratos nodded slightly, more focused on looking around to see where they were than to make conversation. Rose also knew that her younger brother was worried about Lloyd.

Reaching out a hand, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine, Kratos. Right now, let's just go and find... are paying any attention?" When the auburn Seraph didn't respond, she raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer. "Rose to Kratos...come in Kratos..." When she still didn't get a rise out of him, she sighed heavily and began waving her hand in front of his eyes. "Anyone alive in there anymore, Kratos?"

"Hm? did you say something?" Kratos looked back, a wry smile on his face. Rose felt her eye twitch, and she lightly bopped Kratos on the head.

"Baka." She muttered under her breath, but blinked when she saw that Kratos was still smiling. "What's got you in a good mood?" Kratos looked back where his glance had been before, smiling.

"Because... it seems my gut feeling was right after all." He spoke quietly, beckoning his older sister over to where he was. When Rose stood beside him, he pointed. Rose looked, and felt her jaw hit the floor as she saw Lloyd and Colette embracing, wings wide open and refracting the light of the setting sun.

Kratos chuckled under his breath and began to walk away; the two would come back when they felt like it. Stopping when he noticed Rose wasn't with him, he backtracked slightly and grabbed onto his sister's sleeve. Dragging her away, he commented, "They'll come back on their own. We've got nothing to worry about." Rose shot her brother an annoyed look before turning around and walking under her own power.

Lloyd chuckled lightly into Colette's hair--he'd heard the whole conversation. When he could no longer hear the flapping of their wings, he pulled away slightly. Colette gave him a confused look. "The others might start to worry about where you are, you do realize?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. Colette giggled.

"Yeah, let's head back." She chirruped, fuchsia wings catching the air. Lloyd smiled sweetly and began to hover, immense prismatic wings flapping slightly. Colette flew up next to him, reaching out a hand to him. Lloyd smiled and took it, flying back towards the others hand in hand. For a few minutes, Lloyd didn't care that there was a possibility that he would be attacked when he returned. He was too happy to care.

* * *

When Kratos and Rose had returned without Colette, the others had been concerned. And the seemingly out-of-character smile plastered onto the Seraph's face made them even more worried. Raine seemed to be considering whether or not to break away from Yuan-who had been talking to her with an arm over her shoulder the entire time-and throttle the answer out of one auburn or the other when Watsu of all people started laughing.

"Angels ho!!" he pointed, booming voice startling the napping Yuki and Fuyu into wakefulness. While Fuyu simply mumbled about loud dumbasses and looked in the direction the emerald haired pointed, Yuki whapped him upside his head with his staff, muttering about something when he looked and cut himself off.

"No…way." He whispered, grey eyes wide.

"Yes way." Came Aki's retort. "That's the gaki's mana signature alright—it doesn't smell diluted by the ARCH transformation anymore."

"You mean!?" Sheena spoke up, eyes wide, grinning recklessly. Chi nodded.

"Yes, Lloyd's coming as well."

"YES!!" Sheena, Zelos, and Genius all yelled, leaping in the air. Startled, everyone else stared at them as they all talked about either throttling Lloyd for being a dumbass or just being happy that he was back. Rose and Kratos glance at one another before laughing hysterically at the three's mixed reactions. Watsu, who noticed that Rose looked about ready to collapse began to wander over and held her up.

Lloyd felt himself grimace as he and Colette neared the others—he was only half ready for what might happen. Letting his hand drop to his side, he waited for the blond to land before descending himself, completely unaware of the picture that he was to the others; immense prismatic wings spread gallantly across the air, refracting the sunlight. The cherubic gold wings fluttered pointlessly in the air, setting off the silver and sapphire ribbons from Arceus' Ring and the grey and black coattails.

Landing lightly, he looked around and chuckled weakly. "Hey guys."

"LLOYD!!" The combined yell of three voices made his ears pang as Sheena, Genius, Presea and even Zelos ran at him, glomping onto him with ferocious speed. Barely standing upright after the rather painful group tackle, Lloyd stared in shock at all of them.

"Are you guys... feeling okay?" He asked, wine colored eyes wide in mild shock. At once he was assailed by demands as to how he'd lived, exclamations about how huge his wings were, several shouts of his name, and a all together crushing sensation on him as he struggled to stay upright. Shooting a panicked look at his father and aunt, he was annoyed to see them both laughing hysterically, Rose leaning on Watsu for support.

"Little help, please!?" He yelled, which only seemed to make them laugh more. Finally, Colette took pity on her love and walked over to them.

"Come on guys, Lloyd, doesn't like being hung on." She giggled, pulling Genius and Presea off of him, leaving Lloyd's one arm free to lightly pull Zelos-which rather disturbed him- off and drop him unceremoniously on the ground. Sheena pulled away on her own, eyes widening as she looked the young Archangel over.

Now that he was free to move about as he pleased, Lloyd shook lightly before retracting the larger prismatic wings, leaving the four golden ones out. It was only then that he noticed the faint emerald tint to them, mentally shrugging. Feeling Raine's all too dangerous stare focused on him, he looked up. "Uhh... Professor, are you okay?" He asked, stepping back slightly. Yuan looked in concern at the silver half-elf beside him, and noticed the glint dancing in her storm blue eyes.

"Raine? You're starting to make me nervous..." He stated, instinctively tightening his grip on her. Raine didn't seem to hear him, giddy from her Ruin mode. In an unexpected burst of strength, she bolted towards Lloyd, pulling a whip out from who knows where and chasing the already fleeing Archangel across the grassy clearing.

After about a half hour, Watsu stepped forward and knocked Raine out by bopping the woman on the head. When he got blank stares, he simply turned and looked at them. "Rose was close to passing out." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. While the others looked at the female auburn- who did look rather red in the face- the Archangel looked up at Lloyd, who had leapt into the air to get away from his teacher. "You can come down now."

"Thank you." Lloyd replied, landing with ease. Looking at Kratos, who had managed to recover during Raine's chase of his son, he was startled to see that his father looked rather serious. "Is something wrong Dad?"

"Hnh?" Kratos blinked, then shook his head. What he was truly wondering could wait. "I was just wondering something... how did you put those other two ARCH that Yggdrasil told us about into hibernation?" Lloyd blinked—hadn't been expecting that one. He sighed lightly.

"Dad, I'm smart enough how to figure out how to run a computer, even if it was in the angelic language. Besides-"

"No, no. Not that." Kratos cut him off. "How did you get into the room without Yggdrasil finding out?" A heavy, awkward silence filled the air as Lloyd went slightly red in the face. Reaching up to scratch the back of his neck like he always did, he gave a weak chuckle.

"Uh... would you believe me if I told you I hotwired the security system?" He asked with a weak smile. Everyone's jaw was on the floor at that, and Kratos took a minute or so to collect himself before speaking again.

"...How do you know how to hotwire something?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and taking on a stance that Lloyd instinctively recognized as one a parent took when they wanted the full story.

"..." Was the brunette's only response.

"Maybe the same way he knows how to pick locks?" Genius suggested after a few minutes, making Lloyd whirl around to look at him in horror.

"Genius!!" He cried out in dismay. Kratos' eyes narrowed.

"...You pick locks?" He queried, and Lloyd looked at him with a sigh.

"Yeah." He looked down, only to glance up again when the sound of Kratos' palm contacting his forehead made him look up at his father, who was shaking his head weakly.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"I don't know—I'm not you." Lloyd replied with an easy smile, which resulted in a sharp smack upside the head from Kratos. Laughing, he backed away only to feel a second hand smack him across the back of his skull.

"That was for scaring everyone half to death!" Rose snapped, earning a startled look from everyone, especially her brother and nephew, who was rubbing the offended area. "What?" She asked after a minute, backing up. Watsu laughed and strode towards her, clapping an arm over her shoulders.

"I don't think they expected you to do that, Rose." He laughed boisterously, breaking what little tension that had been in the air. Lloyd couldn't help but grin as his aunt shoved her partner in crime off of her, face red. He knew that look, alright. Kratos seemed to notice it too, but he didn't draw attention to it.

Hey, he'd just gotten back!

He didn't want to give everyone else another reason to kill him so soon!

* * *

_Well, there's that.  
__**Lloyd:**__ You had fun.  
__Yep!! Had that conversation between you and Daddy planned out for a while now!! And that reminds me..._

**TO ANYONE READING THIS**

**Out of curiosity, I propose an optional challenge fic to anyone reading this. I would like to see how you imagine my eight Archangels. It can be about one or more of them, and it can either be a oneshot or a multichapter fic, I just want to see what you think of them!! XD Like I said, this is optional, and you only have to do this if you want to!**

_Please review!!_


	18. Cycle 18

_Well, this is the last chapter of ARCH!!  
__**Lloyd:** Already? Man, this was a good one... T.T  
But don't fret Lloydie!! -pats Lloyd's back- There's still the epilogue and the wrap party to go!!  
__**Lloyd**: Yay! -happy- I'm helping with the wrap party, right?  
__You and Arceus, that's right.  
__**Arceus:** Why I have to help host a party...  
**Lloyd:** Come on Arceus, it'll be fun!!  
__**Arceus:** Keeping you away from the liquor is not my idea of fun.  
__ONE OF YOU SAY THE EFFING DISCLAIMER OR WE WON'T GET TO THE WRAP PARTY!!  
__**Lloyd: **Li-chan owns nothing but the Archangels!!_

_Cycle Eighteen_

* * *

_(One month later...)_

Lloyd leaned over the edge of the balcony, looking down at the party goers below. This party would've happened sooner, but there were a few complications that needed to be fixed.

He spotted his friends and Team Genbu with a smirk. Aki and Chi had flat out refused to go to the party for the restoration of the worlds, and Haru was too busy keeping herself out of sight--apparently she and Kaze were going to be having a baby in roughly seven months, and the mother was rather self-conscious.

Spotting Kratos, Lloyd laughed to himself; his father and aunt had been brought along by request, and they in turn had forcibly brought along Yuan and Watsu, respectively. Not that Yuan really minded, because he was easily blending in, striking a conversation about who knows what with Raine.

"What're you doing up here gaki?" Watsu's voice sounded behind Lloyd, making him glance over his shoulder. There was the emerald Archangel, looking downright respectable in black evening wear and a sapphire vest. He walked with an arm wrapped tightly around Rose's shoulders, who seemed almost like a morning glory blooming at midnight in her lavendar and wisteria sarong and translucent amethyst stole, auburn hair done up in a violet net and dangling veil. Lloyd grinned.

"Getting away from the fangirl mob down there." He joked, pointing at a cluster of upper class girls who were swarming Zelos, who was laughing and flirting with them shamelessly, his cornflower blue eyes scanning around for someone. After a time, he broke away and intercepted Sheena on her way to the refreshments table, whispering something in her ear.

"Well, it seems he's not acting typical around her anymore." Rose commented, stepping forward to lean on the balcony rail beside her nephew, violet eyes sparkling. Watsu stood beside her still, a glass of champagne in his hands. "But getting away from those fangirls sounds like a rather smart idea. Especially now that their 'Master Zelos' has left them." Her last comment got the two beside her laughing.

"And what are you two doing up here?" Lloyd asked, curious.

"Getting out of the way of our fellow Archangel." Watsu pointed. "Yuki's quite frightening to run into when he's got liquor in him." Indeed, the raven haired Archangel was dancing around in a drunken daze, which earned several odd looks, including a rather embarrassed flush on his partner's face. Fuyu looked rather embarrassed, and ended up pulling Yuki away from the table and towards Raine and Yuan, asking if either of them knew a cure for hangovers.

"... It's so hard to believe that it's all over." Lloyd commented after a minute of silence, a hand resting over the spot where Arceus' Ring resided on his chest. The tight white fabric of his formal costume was irritating, and he swore he felt like undoing the neck right now. He hesitated because he didn't know whether or not it would be proper.

"Yeah, isn't that the truth." Watsu nodded, going to sip from his champagne, only to find that Rose had taken it and was sipping from it herself. "...If I had known you wanted some I would've gotten you a glass as well." he commented, earning a mischievous grin from the woman. Lloyd stifled a chuckle as Watsu took the glass-still held in Rose's hand- and sipped from it. If Rose objected, she didn't voice it.

"It seems that there is a small party up here as well." Kratos commented, walking up towards the three. Lloyd looked back at his father with a grin, while Rose and Watsu simply smiled. Leaning on the railing next to his son, the Seraph smiled slightly as the band below started playing a waltz. "I got here just in time as well."

"I keep forgetting that you never liked to dance. It took Anna pulling a puppy face to get you to dance with her even once." Rose teased, taking another sip of the champagne. Kratos shot his older sister a withering glance, while Watsu and Lloyd looked at one another and shook their heads—siblings…

"It seems that Yuan's found someone to dance with." Lloyd nudged Kratos lightly, pointing at where the cobalt was dancing arm in arm with Raine, who was rather red in the cheeks. Kratos raised an eyebrow; this was unexpected.

"Rather graceful for someone who wields a sword like his." Watsu commented.

"You're the same way and you know it, Joshua." Rose retorted, patting his cheek, earning a startled stare from her relatives and a mild scowl from Watsu.

"…_Joshua?" _They both asked at once. Rose grinned while Watsu flushed faintly.

"It's his name." She replied easily, violet eyes dancing. "It's just that I'm the only one that gets away with calling him that." Looking down at the glass, she sighed. "It's gone."

"Let's get more then." Watsu replied, steering his partner towards the stairs. "And this time, I'm getting you your own glass, you infuriating woman." He scolded playfully as they descended.

"Would you have me any other way?" Came Rose's reply. Kratos raised an eyebrow as he looked at Lloyd.

"Is it just me…or is Rose…?" He began, voice humorous.

"Flirting? Yeah, I'd say so." Lloyd agreed, nodding. Leaning back over the terrace, he looked down at the dancers below as Kratos lounged beside him, a hand pulling at his collar. Glancing over Raine and Yuan, he smiled as he spotted Zelos' posse of fangirls fuming over the fact that he was dancing with Sheena, who playfully stuck her tongue out at them over Zelos' shoulder. Genius, Presea and Regal all stood off to one side, talking amongst themselves. To his surprise, he spotted Yuki and Fuyu dancing as well, the two Archangels rather graceful.

"Raine must've cured Yuki's hangover." Lloyd commented, raising an eyebrow. Kratos nodded, smiling.

"Either that or he was acting the part."

"That seems rather unlikely." Lloyd countered, shaking his head. Kratos could only chuckle.

"Which reminds me… Colette was looking for you." He poked Lloyd in the arm playfully, watching as the Archangel blushed a shade of fuchsia to rival the blond's wings before scurrying down the stairs. It was the truth though—the blond had been looking for Lloyd the entire evening. Kratos sighed wistfully and looked around at the others below, eyes distant. "Best of luck, Lloyd." If the brunette heard, he didn't respond.

Down on the main floor, Colette sighed and stared at the bottom of her glass. She knew Lloyd had come along; the Eternal Swordsman had no excuse to miss this party. Smiling shyly, she looked up as Rose and Watsu came down the stairs arm in arm. The auburn spotted the blond angel and shot her a wry grin before the emerald haired angel towed her away. Blinking in confusion, Colette went to take a drink when she felt a pair of arms drape themselves over her shoulders.

"A purple birdie told me that you were looking for me." Lloyd's voice whispered in her ear. Flushing, the blond turned to look at him, sky colored eyes glancing around the area.

"H-hi Lloyd." She chirruped cautiously, glancing down at her feet. She sighed in exasperation as she spied Lloyd's undone collar. "When did that happen?" She demanded, going to do it up again. Lloyd stopped her.

"I did that myself--it was starting to chafe my neck." The Archangel smiled wryly, winking. "It's so stuffy here... Not to mention that it's been going on for hours..." He complained, sounding like a teenager for the first time in over a month. Colette felt herself light up in delight; he always made her do that.

"Let's sneak out."

"Huh?" Colette looked back up at Lloyd, confused. The brunette sighed, shoulders slumping forward.

"Let's get out of here--I don't think I can stay in here much longer..." Lloyd looked around, and before Colette could react, he pulled her gently by the wrist and outside of the building. Neither noticed the pair of violet eyes watching the scene, giggling.

"Those two..." Rose shook her head before turning around and resting her head on Watsu's broad shoulder. "If I didn't know better, I'd chase after them."

"Know better than what?" Watsu asked, raising an eyebrow. The Aurion raised one in response, looking off in the direction that Lloyd and Colette had gone. The emerald haired angel chuckled lightly. "Just like his dad alright."

"No." Rose contradicted, shaking her head. "They don't have to hide away to marry one another." Glancing up at the powerful angel, she giggled. "So far, Kratos is the only one of us to have to elope."

"What about us?" Watsu whispered teasingly, leaning in.

"We got married during the war—that doesn't count!"

"Or so you say." Watsu retorted, drooping an arm over Rose's shoulders again, "But if their teacher finds out they snuck away, they're in trouble."

"Hush—it's sweet." Rose bopped him lightly on the shoulder, eyes distant. "I wish them the best…"

* * *

Lloyd sighed in delight as he flopped down in the field of grass, smiling broadly. "This feels so much better than the stuffy party in there." He admitted, allowing his eyes to close. Colette kneeled in the grass beside him, reaching out and running a hand through his hair.

"Lloyd?" She asked hesitantly after a minute.

"Yeah?" He responded, tilting his head to look at her. Colette flushed and looked at the sky, trying to find a way to form her words without sounding silly.

"After this… what're you going to do?" She finally asked. Lloyd sighed and looked away.

"I don't know…. Forever is a long amount of time…"

"Hmmm?" Colette looked at him in confusion. Lloyd let out a soft noise of exasperation—he'd told Raine that Colette needed to know!

"Colette…. I-I can't die. At all." He finally said after a while, hearing Colette's startled gasp of shock. "I'll stop aging too after a certain point… I've been completely removed from the stream of time; standing on the shore and watching it flow by while everyone else is pulled away… never to be seen again…"

"Lloyd…" Colette turned to look back at him, only to bite back a sigh as he wouldn't look at her. "I'll stay with you. Forever."

"Forever is a very long time, Colette. And I have to live through it all, watch everyone else pass on while I remain like this…" the brunette's eyes closed completely. "I don't want to submit anyone else to it."

"What if I don't want you to suffer alone?!" Colette demanded, leaning over him.

"In the end Colette, I will anyway."

"What are you saying?" Lloyd sighed and stood, walking away.

"If you did stay with me Colette, you'd have to watch everyone dear to you pass away, unable to do a thing to save them. Before long, the strain will catch up with you—I know you too well to ignore the fact that watching people close to you die makes you go into chronic depression."

"What about you?"

"… I have to live here until the world itself ends. I'll see everyone die in time, even those that should've lived longer than they shall." Turning around, he hugged Colette tightly. "I just don't want you to be hurt by what will happen to me."

"I still want to stay with you for as long as I can!!" Colette grabbed the Archangel's shirt tightly in both hands. "I'll deal with it as it comes, I just want to be with you!! Until the last chance I get!! After you saved me from my fate, I swore that I wouldn't let you leave me behind!! And I nearly did! I'm not going to lose you again!"

* * *

_**Take my hand  
**_**_I give it to you  
_**_**Now you own me  
**__**All I am  
**__**You said you would never leave me  
**__**I believe you  
**__**I believe**_

* * *

Lloyd looked at her, torn. Finally, he sighed heavily and wrapped his arms around her. "I guess I can't argue against that. But when it does become too much for you, just tell me."

"I will."

* * *

_And there's the last cycle. Next is the epilogue!! Review and I'll see you then!! _

_BTW, the one bit was from "All Around Me: by flyleaf, in case you're wondering._


	19. Epilogue

_Okay, some notes--A, this takes place in the time frame of Tales of Phantasia (aka, four thousand years later) B, I have never PLAYED Phantasia, so some of the details are NOT going to be exact. C, the child that I am going to name in this epilogue is NOT Lloyd and Colette's only child but the youngest--the details will be revealed in the chapter. And after this is..._

_THE WRAP PARTY!! -cheers- So until then, ENJOY!! I OWN NONE OF THE CHARACTERS SAVE FOR THE ARCHANGELS AND LLOYD AND COLETTE'S DAUGHTER!!_

_Epilogue_

* * *

_"Four thousand years ago, a young Archangel rose up and defeated the tyrant god that controlled the worlds on a whim. With a blade of flame in one hand and a blade of Ice in the other, he struck down the angel with a fiery blast of strength."_

(Lloyd's PoV)

Suzaku witness it, history books are SO INACCURATE.

First off, I didn't get Flamberge and Vorpal until AFTER killing Mithos--I used Arceus' Judgment. Second, the thing I beat with the Material blades was an immense bizarre monster that Yggdrasil had created to guard the Great Seed if he somehow died.

…

Where the hell did the writers get their data!? It certainly isn't of the quality of the books that Professor Raine wrote nearly four thousand years ago!

Well, her and Yuan, as they got married shortly after the incidents back then were all said and done. Dad was the best man at the wedding (Of course) and I really don't recall who the maid of honor was--I think Colette might know, so I'll ask her later. Yuan had the Renegades destroy all of the Exspheres, and some of them came up with the idea to blow up the human ranches. That went over well with almost everybody. After that, he and Raine began cataloguing the history of the world so that it was more accurate. Most of the books that I own now about the ancient times were written by them.

Then there's the ARCH book, but that is under lock and key, and Noishe guards it fiercely.

Speaking of him, that protozoan evolved again--his Fenris form, so now he's bigger than the house. Damn dragon.

But moving on... Yuan and Raine had three kids, and all of them were smart like their parents. (like we wouldn't expect anything else) The first two were a pair of fraternal twins (Boy and Girl) and the third was a boy, if I remember correctly.

Regal was here, there and everywhere, helping out with all sorts of things that helped get Aselia back on its feet. Between that and running Altamira, he lived quite the active life. He remained loyal to Alicia, but apparently he adopted a half-elf orphan a few years after things were settled. Not only was it startling to the entirety of tethe'alla's noble population, it also gave half-elves a bit more support and helped them get a good face forward.

Yuki stopped by a year ago—he seemed tired. Fuyu was killed in a fight against a bunch of demons about two centuries ago. We still have problems with those even now. Anyway… the loss hit Yuki hard, and I think he was just ready to go, because he passed on shortly after we saw him. I don't know if they had children or not, but they were really close.

Haru and Kaze didn't die, they just… disappeared. They had two girls shortly after the world was saved—identical twins, actually. After about a thousand or so years, they had another girl and then vanished into the blue once she left the house. Literally. I heard from Dad that the last he saw of them, they were flying up into the air above the Balacruf Malonseium.

Heh—I guess that the inscription about the people of Balacruf becoming wind when they passed on was true.

…

Sheena and Zelos… their story makes me laugh. After everything was set right, Zelos literally ran to Mizuho to be with Sheena. His fangirls weren't pleased with that-obviously. But they were happily off, and had a few of boys and a sole girl. Both of the older boys were more like their mother. The girl was her daddy's little princess, and her little brother became the next chief of Mizuho village. I believe he married Genius and Presea's daughter.

That's right, those two ended up together. never mind that Presea turned out to be nearly sixteen years older than him, they were happy together. Had a couple of kids, but I don't remember them distinctly off the top of my mind-save for their daughter, but that's only because she was quite the character. But somehow Presea managed to last nearly as long as Genius did, but I can't imagine what it feels like to bury someone you're that close too. It must've killed the poor guy. I can't even imagine what Chi went through when Aki went missing.

Aki… I wonder if the pressure of society made him crack a tad too much. He was far more comfortable in the forests and such. He and Chi were visiting Aunt Rose and Watsu when he wandered off into the Goaroaccha Forest and wasn't seen again. Chi went into a total meltdown when she found out and eventually just wasted away… it broke everyone's heart to see that happen to her …

Aunt Rose and Watsu lasted a long time though—we visited them recently. And by recently, I mean like a couple centuries ago. Time becomes blurred together once you pass a thousand years old, in all honesty. But the last time we saw them, we knew that it would be the last time … They didn't die, but we haven't seen them since. They finally had a kid-another boy, and he was rather unusual. But I miss him; we got along.

…

Dad … I don't think I'll ever be able to think on that for long without it starting to hurt.

After everything was said and done, he lasted about another two thousand years before he simply stopped. He was tired, and I bet he was past ready to go. He'd gone for long enough without Mom, and I know he wanted to see her again. We buried him next to her, and I put Flamberge there as well—I can't bring myself to use it again, and it just hurts me to look at it for long. I only knew him for so long… and I'll never forget that.

Well, at least he lived long enough to see three of his grand children.

That's right, Colette and I married shortly after she turned eighteen, and well… yeah, I think you can guess what happened. (Zelos actually made a rather dirty joke about being shocked that it hadn't happened sooner. I think Sheena locked him outside for a week after that.) The first was a girl, and roughly … gah… fifteen hundred years later? Yeah, that sounds right, fifteen hundred years later we had a pair of boy twins. They loved their grandpa just as much as he loved them, and I think Dad passed on happily.

It has been four thousand years since Mithos died and the worlds were restored, and Colette—I thank Suzaku for this—she's still with me and doing well. We live around the rear of the great tree Yggdrasil, so most people don't know we exist. The Summon Spirits like dropping by to visit, and Martel spends as much time over here as she does at the Tree!!

And actually, today is our wedding anniversary. I lost count LONG ago of how long we've been together, but I love every second of it. And thank every star out there that everything is fine here, because with the demon attacks going on around the world, things seem so grim.

I think I'll go say hi to Mom and Dad today, and then Colette and I—

(Normal PoV)

The sound of giggling from beneath his desk caught Lloyd's attention, and he put down the pen that he was using and bent down. "And just what are you doing under there, Miss Tori?" A shrill burst of giggles hit the angel's ears as he reached beneath the desk and grabbed hold of his five-year-old daughter, dragging her out and settling her on his lap.

Victoria (Tori for short) Martel Aurion was the youngest of Lloyd and Colette's children, and currently, the only one. Her naturally crimpled auburn hair brushed her waist, and the bright blue ribbon in her hair made her look even more like a doll. Bright red eyes glowed with admiration as her father pulled her into a tight hug as he stood.

"Hi Daddy!!" She giggled, wrapping her shorter arms around Lloyd's shoulders as they walked out of Lloyd's office. "Mommy's downstairs waiting for you, and she said that I could go for a ride on Noishe if you said it was okay!" The brunette angel smiled sweetly at the young girl, who was still in her nightgown and clutching her stuffed animal-which was supposed to be Aska, if he recalled correctly.

"I'm alright with it, but you need to go get dressed first." He responded, setting Victoria down. The Cherub squeaked quickly, hugged her father's legs tightly before heading upstairs to her bedroom while Lloyd continued downstairs into the kitchen. Smiling and walking over to where Colette stood by the window, he draped his arms over her shoulders and placed a light kiss to her temple.

"Morning dearest." He whispered, smiling as she leaned into his hold. Colette smiled back at him, blue eyes dancing.

"Good morning to you too." She replied, reaching up and patting Lloyd's cheek lightly. The angel gave her a sweet smile, eyes bright as he let out a contented noise.

"I was going to go see Mom and dad again today." Lloyd commented after a minute, looking outside at the pale blue sky. Colette nodded in agreement; he hadn't seen them in a while.

"Just be careful alright? I know Dhaos wouldn't attack you normally, but let's not give him a chance to give into temptation." Lloyd chuckled at his wife's concern, amused and agreeing with her at the same time—with Dahos running loose, it wasn't smart to take chances.

"Tell Tori to be careful on Noishe today; she can't let people see her on dragonback." He replied, heading towards the door just as Victoria's rapidly moving feet came down the stairs.

"Daddy, wait!!" She exclaimed, running up and grabbing onto his pant leg with one hand while the other held a bunch of flowers to her side. Holding them up, she asked sweetly, "Can you give these to Grandma and Grandpa for me?" Lloyd smiled down at her and took the flowers from her.

"Of course. Now behave, and don't go kicking Noishe in the side while riding him-you know he doesn't like that." With that, he walked out of the door, laughing to himself as his daughter's huffed statement of "I know that daddy!" reached his ears. Sighing after a minute, he allowed himself to warp to where he was headed for.

* * *

On Aselia, June 5th is set aside as a holiday, for it was the day when four thousand years ago, the legendary Archangel bested the tyrant god and rescued Aselia from its reign of destruction. Humans, elves, half-elves and demons alike set aside all notions of combat or ill-wishing to revel in the festivities and joyus well wishing of the day.

Well, most humans were doing so.

But for the five friends who were battling Dhaos, the Day of Restoration was just like any other day, save for the fact that they had to try even harder to keep Arche from cooking. Klarth had just succeeded in salvaging what was edible from their fire when he sensed a powerful force nearing the temple they were heading for.

"... Cless." He called, eyes darting towards the leader of their group. The teen trotted over upon hearing his name being called. brown-blond hair fell into his eyes as he bent to kneel beside the older half-elf.

"Yeah? what is it, Klarth?" he asked, curious and alaramed at the same time. The summoner jerked his head in the general direction of the temple.

"I felt something strong over near the Temple of Nightfire--it might be Dhaos." Cless' grey-blue eyes widened in shock. before anyone could stop him, he stood up. Tucking his hands casually into his pockets, he walked away from the area.

"i'm going on a walk, guys." he forced a cheerful smile onto his face, and walked away before a voice of objection-most likely Mint or Chester-could stop him.

The temple of Nightfire was an old yet intact stone structure from the time of Restoration, and it housed one half of the Material blades--Flamberge, the blade of divine flame. Cless and the others had gon searching for it so that they could make a pact with Origin and use the Eternal sword to their advanatge against Dhaos. Apparently the Vorpal blade was elsewhere, but the strange soothsayer who had given them Flamberge's location had been rather vague on what she had said.

_"An ancient being will come to your aid, you who seek the Eternal Sword."_

Cless still found the words particularly ominous. Not only had she not said what the being would look like, nor what it would help them with. Would it help fight Dhaos? Would it teach them a different way to make a pact with Origin? Sighing, the brunette walked absently until a flicker of gold at the edge of his vision alarmed him. Picking up his pace, he began to look around for the demon lord...

Until he ran into someone standing in his way and knock them-along with himself- down to the earth.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Cless stammered, standing up and offering the stranger a hand. A light chuckle reached his ears as the person took his hand. He had shoulder length, shaggy brown hair and bright wine colored eyes. He appeared to be around his mid to late twenties, as far as the teen could tell—Arche was the one that was good at guessing ages.

"No, it's alright." The man responded, rising and brushing the dirt off of his black pants. Looking down at Cless—this person seemed over six feet tall—he added on, "It's just that I haven't been inside this temple for a long time, and I wished to see the inside again." Cless' eyes widened.

"You've been in there before!?" He exclaimed, glancing at the entrance to the temple and back to the man, who nodded.

"I take it you are Cless?" The statement, having come totally out of the blue, made the swordsman tense. Looking at him with wild eyes, the teen began to reach for his sword when the person shook his head. "I assumed that the only people that weren't going to spend the Day of Restoration in a village would be you and your friends. I have no desire to hurt you. My name, by the way, is Lloyd." Lloyd extended a hand, which Cless took lightly and shook.

"H-hi then, Lloyd. But have you really been in there before? I didn't think anyone could get in there." Lloyd shook his head lightly, laughing to himself.

"Only if one tries to take something without making a promise to return it." He smiled mysteriously, and bent down to whisper into Cless' ear. "You will only be able to wield Flamberge if you swear to return it to this place when you are through with the Eternal Sword. There is an inscription left there by the Archangel that states of a terrible curse that befalls those that try to steal the blade without paying some respect."

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Cless asked, nervous. Lloyd shrugged and straightened, walking away.

"According to legend, there are two companions of the Archangel buried beneath this temple, and Flamberge was a gift that they gave to him to fight the Tyrant god. He placed it there for memory of his friends.

"But … maybe such a powerful being left it there, because he knew that it would be needed again." Lloyd looked back over his shoulder with a smile on his face. Cless stared at him for a minute, confused.

"Wait … what are you?" He asked after a minute. Lloyd sighed and shook his head, then turned and walked away once again.

"Please give my regards to Origin—I haven't spoken with him in a while." With that, he was gone. Cless stood ramrod still for a moment, before moving to follow wherever Lloyd had gone.

"CLESS!!" Chester's bellow caught the swordsman off guard, and he turned to see his friends walking towards him. Chester stopped before him and scowled. "Klarth told us that something was down this way, and we grew worried. What were you doing down here alone?" He demanded.

"Well, I … there was this weird guy here, and he told me that we have to return Flamberge to here after we were done with it. Said something about a curse and other such stuff—he really didn't make much sense." Cless explained, looking at his friends in confusion. "And just as he left, he told me to say hi to Origin for him, like he knew the spirit. Which should be impossible, right Klarth?" He asked. When the summoner shook his head, he sighed, "and he vanished just as you guys were walking off."

"Humans can't vanish Cless." Arche reminded him, landing her broom and stepping off of it. "Maybe he was a half-elf?"

"No—he looked too much like a human." Cless shook his head, then narrowed his eyes. "But then again, he had red eyes…"

"WHAT!?" The combined bellow from Chester, Klarth and Arche nearly knocked Cless over, earning a startled yelp from the swordsman. Klarth was the first to speak normally. "Seriously Cless, that man could've been one of Dhaos' demons for all that you know. And you tell him what we're doing here?!"

"Eh!! No, I didn't tell Lloyd a thing!! He knew already!!" Cless waved his arms out in front of him, taking a step back. Chester's eyebrows raised at that.

"That name…" he whispered softly, earning a look from the others. "What? It's nothing. And since we're here, let's go get Flamberge and get out of here." Before any of the others could object, the archer slunk into the temple. The other four looked at one another in confusion before following.

* * *

Later in the evening, Cless found himself awake, staring at the crimson blade in his hand. He had gotten Flamberge, and had sworn in his head that whatever Lloyd had meant by returning the blade to the temple, he would do so. It must've worked—somehow—because he and the others had gotten out of the temple without a hitch. And now the others were asleep while the teen could only stare in wonder at the blade before him.

"How were you made? You don't seem to be metal." He spoke softly, swinging Flamberge lightly through the air. Flames followed behind it, and the legendary sword glowed faintly.

"From what I've heard, Flamberge was made eight thousand years ago for a hero that helped stop the Kharlan war." The sound of Lloyd's voice near his ear made Cless jump to his feet in surprise, a hand still on Flamberge. The brunette seemed unalarmed, and went on speaking quietly. "And then in turn, he gave it to his son, the Archangel to best the tyrant god." Stepping forward, he extended a hand. "Flamberge, may I see it?" He asked. Cless hesitated, then rested the blade's hilt in Lloyd's hand.

With the skill of an expert, Lloyd brought Flamberge through the air to gaze at it on eye level. He remained silent, so Cless spoke softly. "Lloyd? Just… who are you? You know more about the story of the Archangel than any of the more common scholars or historians known to date. Are you … a demon? No human alive has red eyes, after all. And you can completely disappear, plus you knew my friends were coming and left before they saw you as well, so you must be someone that they don't want to meet." Gasping for air, Cless waited for a response. Lloyd's eyes flickered away from the blade briefly before returning, but a message had passed between them then; there was more to the adult than there seemed to be.

Sighing finally, Lloyd swung Flamberge once more before looking at a tree and unleashing a Demon Fang attack. Satisfied as the burst of mana clove through the blade, he offered it to Cless again, the golden hilt in front of the teen's face.

"Take good care of this sword. Dad wouldn't be happy to know I let someone wreck his sword, even if it was his gift to me." He spoke with a smile, and Cless—not quite catching what he said—took it in his hand. Once he looked down, lloyd's last sentence finally registered in his head.

"_Dad wouldn't be happy to know I let someone wreck his sword, even if it was his gift to me."_ Eyes growing wider than he had thought possible, Cless looked up…

But Lloyd had gone again, and in his place was a solitary feather with a ring and a note wrapped around it. Kneeling, Cless picked up the strange package and read the note aloud, voice barely a whisper.

"_Cless, Mint, Chester, Klarth, Arche,_

"_The reason I am not fighting Dhaos as well is because we were very much the same; we want to save our own worlds. I am not condemning Aselia either, it's just that I do not wish to fight someone who only wishes to help those he cares about. That would mean I am a hypocrite, and I honestly do not care for them._

_And I was not kidding about the curse of Flamberge either. Please return it to the temple when you're through with the Eternal Sword; I don't like it leaving Mom and Dad's graves for longer than necessary. And the ring will be needed as well in order to forge the Eternal Sword._

_The feather is a way for Origin to know that I don't care if he makes a pact with you anyway; you need the Eternal Sword more than I do right now._

_Take care, all of you._

_Lloyd, Archangel of Symphonia."_


	20. Wrap party!

Li: well, I guess its past time for this …

Lloyd: How can you say that!? You just put up the epilogue a few days ago Li-chan!! You've got the timing for this down dead-on!!

Li: but I don't want it to be over!! T.T Why did ARCH have to end so soon?!

Arceus: Quit griping Li. You're the hostess, so you have to be in a good mood. If you're not, I WILL bring in Manaphy to MAKE you happy. We even pulled in Hector to help.

Hector: Darn blackmailing beast-god … but then again, I did help out in the beginning … But you ain't sick like you were then, so buck up. –pokes Li with end of axe.-

Li: fine, fine. I'll perk up. Woot.

Lloyd/Arceus/Hector: LIKE YA MEAN IT, GIXIE!

Li: WOOTT!! –does mini victory dance- XD Oh, and before I forget … -pulls rope-

-all four are drenched with something, then shrunk into chibi form-

Hector: WTF!?

Lloyd: You managed to swindle some of Kokuyo's angel shrinking potion didn't you?

Li: Yep!! XD besides, since the rest of this story was angsty drama stuff, I wanted to be funny for this!! –pounding on door heard- Woot! Someone's here!!

-Archangels walk in-

Kaze: Woah, Cherubs, no dah!!

Yuki: -bends down and picks up Li- Are you feeling well?

Li: Yep!! Congratulations on the completion of ARCH!!

Rose: -picking up Lloyd- Congratulation to you as well, Li-chan. You finished you're first story.

Li: I know!! It took me so long to get this all done—

Hector: It only took you three months.

Li: That's long!! But anyway, I loved working on this story, as it seems to have been the one that actually got my name out there into the world of fanfiction!! Not only that, but the storyline was a blast to work out, from the very beginning to the very ending part of the epilogue. And the character designs and costume changes were just as fun to draw!! –looks at Yuki and points- You were actually the easiest of the Archangels to draw, Yuki!

Yuki: Really?

Li: yep, you and Rose were easy to do! The rest of you I had a slight struggle with, but once I pinned down you're personalities, I managed to figure out how I wanted you guys to look!! (Haru was the hardest by far) But anyhow … do any of you guys have questions? Apart from why I made the four of us Chibi.

Watsu: damn, that was my first one.

Lloyd: because Li's a psycho. There; that's why we're chibi.

Arceus: watch the tone Lloyd—she has other stories going that she could still do something to you in.

Lloyd: don't remind me.

Li: Anyway, next question!!

Rose: Acutally, back in cycle seven, you had a little bit with a person crying while Colette and I were talking. Who was that.

Lloyd: -clears throat-That was me, Aunt Rose.

Rose: Seriously? -looks at Li- How many people guessed that?

Li: Not many, honestly. But it helps prove one of the main themes of the story!! The power of love is the strongest of all!!

Fuyu: At least for Lloyd and Colette it is.

Arceus: And that is a bad thing?

-regular ToS gang walks in-

Zelos: What the hell...? Li shrunk herself!!

Hector: What'm I!? Chopped liver!?

Arceus: We're not from this universe, Hector.

Hector: good point.

Colette: Aw, how cute!! An Arceus plushie! -bends down and picks up Arceus, who seems mortified-

Li: Woot!! More people!! XD Any of you got questions that you want to ask?

Kratos: Yes, actually. What was the purpose of introducing Kuro and Shiro in Cycle fourteen and Usyagi in Cycle sixteen if they have no plot purpose.

Li: I said in the author notes for the end of cycle sixteen that Usyagi would be a more inportant character in the ALTERNATE ENDING. And as for Kuro and Shiro ... Nah, I think I'll wait for the rest of the questions before explaining their purpose ...-insane laugh-

Lloyd: -wriggles out of Rose's hold and flies over to Colette- Next question.

Colette: -sets Arceus down and pulls Lloyd into a hug- I have the same question as one of the reviewers? When lloyd was beginning to turn into an Archangel, what happened to all of the injuries that he got from fighting the Archangels and Mithos?

Lloyd: I'm awesome that way.

Hector: You ham.

Lloyd: Shut it!!

Li: Well, because of the magical powers of Ascension ... Eh ... will someone else explain this for me? I can't say it without getting technical...

Haru: What she's basically trying to say is that the strength of the magic Arceus used on Lloyd included similar powers to a First Aid spell, save for a great deal stronger. So when Lloyd went to sleep, his wounds were healed.

Yuki: Why couldn't you explain it that simply, Li?

Li: I can explain shit on two levels; technical and preschool!! That's all!!

Regal: Regardless, will you NOW explain the point of introducing us to Kuro and Shiro?

Li: Of course!! I was just waiting for any other questions to be answered. But now … -turns to readers and clears throat- In this very cluttered, cunning head of mine, I have a sequel idea for ARCH planned out. Kuro and Shiro will be back, as will EVERYONE else here! … well, not me or Arceus.

Arceus: Thank you.

Sheena: How are you going to bring the rest of us back.

Li: … -insane laugh-

Raine: That is not a good sign.

Genius: Yeah, and what about Hector over there?

Li: Instead of making a new bunch of OCs for this, I decided to pull in the cast from FE7 to take over the main character cast. But don't worry!! If you don't know the FE story, I am NOT going to be using that at all!! The cast is completely revamped for life in Aseila 4,000 years after Tales of Phantasia!! But I will only post it if YOU PEOPLE READING THIS want me to!! Even if I do, it won't be up for a while—I've got other stories to update, including the alternate ending for this story!! –grabs several two liters of random pops out of enormous fridge- Alright everyone!! Let's party!! It's a wrap!!

-loud music and tons of cheering heard-

Owari

* * *

_Once again, thanks to all of you who reviewed this story. Before I post this, let me just say that this story has had 158 reviews and 7000+ hits!! Thank you all for reading, reviewing, and liking ARCH!! I shall see you again on one of my other stories, but until then, Sayoonara and good health to you all!!_


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